The Truth About Us
by blackhawkschiq9
Summary: Poor family life brought Dani and Punk together 12 years ago. Punk is now retired from the WWE and about to tie the knot with AJ Lee. Dani is romantically involved with Seth Rollins and has some big news for her best friend, Punk. Punk has never seen Dani as more than a little sister but, what happens when Punk realizes his feelings for Dani may be more than familial?
1. Chapter 1

**As promised, here is my newest brain child! Sorry it took so long to get it posted. After faithfully writing my last two stories for 5 months, I needed a small break. I want to thank you all for being so understanding about the ending of my previous story. It was just time to move on and I excited about this one. My brain is fresh with new ideas! So, I hope you all enjoy this one. I plan to update every weekend so expect these longer chapters. 3**

* * *

_**Sunday, July 27**__**th**__** 2003**_

_Drowning was the only way she could describe it._

_If anyone were to ask her how she felt at that exact moment, sitting there with her best friend the night before he boarded a plane to Japan for two weeks, she would tell them she felt like she was drowning. She was swimming in a sea of emotions and, even though she tried to put her feet on something solid, there was nothing there. Just wave after wave of sadness, dread, and the impending loneliness without him crashing over her head as she fought to stay above the water._

_She was drowning while everyone around her kept breathing and they all thought she was breathing too._

_But she wasn't. _

_Her best friend, the only person who understood her, and the man who had become like a big brother to her was leaving. While he was flying across the world she would be on a bus to West Virginia to start her life as a college student at Marshall University. _

"_**I know you don't want to get all mopey and sad tonight, but can I say something selfish really quick?" **__She tried to conceal it but it was no use. Her voice was shaking with emotion, fighting back the tears as they took in the sunset from the front porch of her grandmother's house in their hometown of Lockport, IL. _

_He kept his eyes on the horizon but she could see the sad smile teasing the corner of his mouth, his lip ring glinting in the sunlight.__** "I wouldn't expect anything else from you, brat."**_

_Brat._

_That had been his term of endearment for her since the day they met in the back of her favorite comic book store, AF Books, a year ago. They'd both reached for the same G.I. Joe comic at the same time. It was the last one and both had intentions of purchasing it. The nickname had come from the terrible tantrum she'd thrown as he held the book above her head, laughing at the slew of profanities she'd thrown at him. It was a good ten minutes before he'd finally handed the book to her and walked out of the store. _

_She had acted like a brat. That was why she'd gone up and apologized to him when she saw him in there again the next week. She explained to him that she'd been having a bad day. It was her 17__th__ birthday and her mother had been too busy with her new boyfriend to remember. Finding that particular comic had been the only highlight of her day and she'd just broken down when she thought she wouldn't have it._

_He'd apologized in return and told her he understood what it was like to have shitty parents. They'd been almost inseparable ever since. _

_Normally, it irritated her when he called her a brat, but she was too depressed to care today._

"_**I wish you wouldn't go." **__She spoke softly from her seat next to him on the stoop. _

"_**Danielle, we're not going to do this tonight. Remember?"**__ He reminded her of the pact they'd made in his car the night before when he dropped her off after seeing Halloween: Resurrection at the theater downtown._

_She took a long shuddering breath and blinked past the wetness building in her eyes. __**"I know, I know." **__She rest her head on his shoulder. __**"We have to follow our dreams and they are leading us on different paths but why do you have to leave before I go to school?"**_

_He let out his own sigh of resignation. __**"Because timing is everything and irony is a bitch, kid." **__He began to chew on his lip ring. She'd picked up on his habit a long time ago. He did it every time he was heavily contemplating anything._

_Dani agreed with him. It was all wonderfully ironic. He'd been the only one to ever encourage or support her in her dreams. Now, because of his own dreams and ambitions, he wouldn't be there for her when she set off on the path to hers._

"_**Leaving won't feel right without you there to tell me goodbye." **__She couldn't hold back any longer. Despite their pact and her promise, the tears began to fall fast and hard. _

"_**Jeez, Dan, lighten up." **__He nudged her with his elbow.__** "Nobody is dying here, brat. You're going to school and I'm doing the same thing I've done since we've met. I'll only be in Japan for two weeks and then I'll be right back here in Chicago."**_

"…_**.and I'll be in Huntington…" **__She sniffled. _

_She didn't understand how he could be so nonchalant about their imminent separation. How could he tell her to lighten up? In all of her eighteen years, he'd been the only positive aspect. The only constant. Her father was gone. Her mother was off chasing the next man or the next fix. Her grandmother was always passed out, drunk, in front of the television. All of her peers ignored her. Nobody had time for the raven-haired girl in the back of the room with her comics, Green Day t-shirt, punk rock music blaring in her headphones, and the same camo pants she wore almost every day. She was a nerd. None of the girls wanted to be seen with a nerd and none of the guys wanted to date a nerd. She'd become accustomed to loneliness until he came into her life._

_With his long hair, knack for borrowing her eyeliner to line his deep green eyes, tattoos, his own love for comics, and punk rock…he knew what it was like to be the outcast. He knew what it was like to not fit in. He was the first person to get her and make her see that fitting in didn't really matter. The only person to give a damn. Now she would have to go back to that dismal existence without him._

"_**Cheer up, Dani."**__He nudged her chin up with his thumb. __**"I know it sucks. I'm going to miss your little snot-nosed face but this is life, kiddo." **__She realized now why he'd kept his eyes focused on the setting sun. Despite tear-blurred vision, she could see and was overwhelmed by the sadness filling his brilliant green eyes. __**"You're my best friend and I love you like my sister. It's hard for me to imagine you being so far away but we do have to chase our dreams, Dan, and it's time for our paths to split." **__He tried to hide it behind a warm smile, but it was clear that he was struggling with it as much as her. __**"That's why they have planes and cars, brat. Fuck, I'd walk to you if I had no other option."**_

"_**You promise that you'll be there every holiday? You'll come see me?"**_

"_**Cross my heart, Dan." **__He kissed her forehead. "__**Now, promise me something, kid."**_

_Their upcoming separation was still a weight on her mind but she knew him too well. He'd always been the one person to stick by every promise he'd ever made to her. If he said he would visit, he would visit. That served to lift her spirits somewhat._

"_**Like what?" **__She answered wiping the tears from her face with the collar of her black t-shirt. _

_The smile on his face disappeared and was replaced, instead, with a rather dour expression. __**"No dating." **_

_She wasn't quite sure if he was being serious or trying to make her laugh and raise the mood._

"_**Deal." **__Even if he was serious, she couldn't help herself but to giggle at the serious expression on his face. He'd been fiercely protective of her since the day they met. She imagined that he was having a stroke internally at the thought of her being all alone on a campus filled with drunken jocks and their uncontrollable libidos._

"_**I'm serious, Danielle. Do not make me come to West Virginia and beat up some ignorant college punk." **__His expression did not change. __**"You, of all people, should know that I have zero qualms with feeding some little prick his own balls if he hurts you."**_

_Dani lay her head back on his shoulder and stared out into the peach and gold sunset. It was peaceful and quiet except for the sound of the wind. The cool breeze coming off the canal whipped around them, throwing Dani's dark hair around her face like the ocean hitting rocks but she ignored it. She was just content to sit there with her best friend, her brother, and enjoy their last few hours together._

"_**You don't have to worry about that." **__She hugged his arm possessively. __**"You'll always be my number one guy."**_

* * *

**Sunday, March 30****th**** 2014**

He woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing on the night stand.

"Oh shit." He cursed the sunlight hitting him directly in the eyes; blocking it out with the back of his hand.

The open curtains explained the cold spot next to him in the bed. _Why did she insist on opening them as soon as she woke up every morning?_

"Ugh." He pulled a pillow over his face, trying to suppress the pounding headache and exhaustion he was feeling. He thought more sleep would come with retirement but, after two months, that didn't seem to be the case. His internal clock was still used to the late nights and early mornings that came with life on the road. Most nights, especially nights when she was gone, he would sit up well into the early hours of morning watching hockey replays and lame infomercials.

His phone buzzed on the night stand once again.

"_Somebody better be dead or fucking close to it…"_ He thought to himself as he rolled over to retrieve the device imagining all the terrible things he would do to the person for waking him so early. Fuck. He didn't even know if it was early. He just knew his sleep was interrupted and it pissed him off.

He found he was closer to the edge of the bed than he thought. "God damn it!" He fell out of the bed in a tangle of sheets, blanket, and pillow.

Whoever was on the other end of the phone would _definitely _regret disturbing Phil Brooks that morning. He continued to mutter obscenities under his breath as he snatched the phone off the nightstand.

His eyes, still unadjusted to the sudden switch from the darkness of sleep to the brightness of the room, strained to read the screen.

Five missed calls and one text message.

"_It must be important." _He shrugged, choosing to open the text first.

"_**Wake up, asshole! My flight got in early. I'd love to sit in O'Hare until princess is ready for you to drop her off but this creepy old guy in the corner is giving me rape-y eyes and I'm not convinced he isn't a serial killer."**_

A shot of panic rushed through him at the reminder. The reason his fiancé was already up that morning and the reason he was up especially late the night before. He'd been too excited to sleep.

He had looked forward to this ever since she told him a month ago that she was coming. His best friend would be visiting him for the next two weeks. He was supposed to pick her up from the airport…

…and he was late.

"_**Don't you watch the news, brat? Serial killers never take the ugly and obnoxious girls. ;)" **_He replied before taking his time to stand from the floor. A groan escaped his lips as he stretched his arms over his head, the muscles in his stiff back pulling taut. Two months of rest had done wonders for him; he felt a thousand times better. Still, there were moments like this when his body reminded him that he'd spent the last 15 years of his life taking bumps in a wrestling ring almost every night.

His phone buzzed in his hand.

"_**That's good to know. Now I won't worry about you as much when you take those long runs late at night." **_

He laughed out loud at her text message. So typical of her and it was what he loved most about the girl. Her sharp wit, sarcastic nature, and dry sense of humor were just a few of the things that endeared her to him.

"_**Fuck you, kid. Lol. Tell the creep to stop staring or your big brother will poke his beady little eyes out and cram them up his shithole. I'll be there ASAP." **_He put his phone in the pocket of the gym shorts he'd slept in and grabbed the black Violent Gentlemen t-shirt he'd discarded on the floor the night before and slid it onto his body. He hoped his better half was packed and ready to go. He was anxious to see his best friend and he wouldn't make her wait any longer in the sea of weirdos that populated the Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

* * *

"I still don't think I am comfortable with the thought of you spending nine days alone with some girl that I've never even meet, Phillip."

He was quickly becoming irritated with his fiancé's unremitting griping as they waited by the baggage claim carousels for all the incoming domestic flights. It was all he'd heard for the entire forty-minute drive (thanks to traffic) to the airport.

It'd all started when he came down the stairs and followed the sound of humming and clanking dishes into the kitchen. She'd greeted him there with a blissfully bright smile and a plate full of pancakes, his favorite. Briefly, he'd been stunned by the understated beauty of the woman he planned to spend the rest of his life with. With her glasses framing her plain but pretty face and her long black hair in an unassuming ponytail, she wasn't the "made-up" Diva that everyone saw on TV but the simplicity of her was what he loved most.

How quickly her demeanor switched when he informed her that they wouldn't have time to enjoy a cozy breakfast together. Her complaints hadn't stopped from the moment he ushered her out the door.

"_This wasn't the plan." _Plans change, April.

"_You're going to make me wait at the airport for three hours so another woman doesn't have to do so." _It's going to take you at least two of those hours to check your bags in, get through security, and make the trek across O'Hare to the right gate.

"_Why is she too good to catch the blue line?" _She's my guest and I promised to pick her up at the airport. I'm not making my best friend brave the CTA when I am perfectly capable of picking her up myself.

They'd gone back and forth the entire time. He'd been patient with her; her aggravation was understandable. He knew she was already on edge about meeting the most important woman in his life apart from herself. She was anxious to gain his best friend's approval but threatened, as well, by the importance of another woman in his life. That would make a nervous wreck out of any woman, he understood, but his patience was quickly waning.

"Well, you're about to meet her now, AJ." He strained to soften the sharpness of his tone.

"So a five-minute encounter before I have to catch my flight is supposed to help me ascertain whether this female wants to sleep with you or not?" She stood in front of him with her arms folded sternly across her chest.

"Ugh." Phil groaned, tossing his head back in frustration. "This again? Really, AJ?" He hadn't heard this from her since the beginning of their relationship. Back then he could understand her concern. How would he feel if his new girlfriend was calling, texting, emailing, and skyping with another man all the time? He thought they'd put it to rest, though. "I've already told you, AJ. Chez has told you. Colt has told you. Natalie has told you. Who else do I need to tell you that there is nothing for you to worry about?" He huffed a laugh, shaking his head at the woman's insecurities.

He didn't understand how she could be so insecure. She'd made it further in their relationship than any of his exes. Nobody ever thought they would see the day he put a ring on any woman's finger, but AJ wasn't _any_ woman. She was everything he'd ever wanted. Beautiful. Smart. Funny. Humble. The list was never-ending.

"Dani's never been anything more than a sister to me and I know it's the same for her, April." He buried his hands deeply in the pocket of his grey hoodie. His looked over his fiancé, anxiously scanning the crowd of people pouring out of the terminals for that familiar face. "That's the way it's been for twelve years, AJ."

"Really, Phil?" Her tone signaled that she wasn't convinced as she peered at him over the black frames of her glasses. "You expect me to believe that you've been the best of friends with this girl, lived with her for a point in time, and you two never-"

"Believe what you want, April." He cut her off. This time he made no effort to mask his negative emotions. AJ's implication was idiotic to say the least, and irksome. "It's the truth." He shrugged, continuing to watch the gates for his best friend. "Fuck, I actually used to date Natalie and you have no problem with me hanging out with her."

"Well, she doesn't spend the night. Besides-" She scoffed. "- Natalie is married to Tony."

He looked down at her, his eyes locking with hers. "And Danielle has been dating Seth for four years." He stated matter-of-factly.

"How does he feel about your little annual sleepovers?" AJ blinked.

Phil smirked. "Who do you think set the two of them up?"

"IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU SHOWED UP, ASSHOLE!"

Phil's attention was immediately ripped away from AJ, or any response she might have offered, by the echoing of his best friend's voice.

The moment he'd been looking forward to for an entire month was finally there. He looked past AJ to see Dani, dressed in a long-sleeve Misfits shirt and a simple pair of skinny jeans, standing just a few feet from them. He quickly forgot about his exhaustion, AJ's griping, or any bad mood he might have been in at the sight of her. It was like time came to a sudden halt the moment he locked eyes with her rich, velvet brown orbs. Everything seemed to vanish. All he could see was the darkness surrounding him; the only lit path leading to the tall, slender girl with her tan, olive skin and the length of her long hair, dark like obsidian, plaited over one shoulder.

Hundreds of miles no longer separated them, only a few feet, and his body was itching to close that small distance.

* * *

"What are you waiting for, brat?" He greeted her with open arms.

The infectious smile on his face spread to her own and she didn't need a second invitation. Without hesitation or concern for the suitcase next to her, she ran into his waiting arms. As soon as they connected, he lifted her off the ground and spun her around in a strong hug.

Dani wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging tightly to him, so happy to be in her best friend's arms after 10 long months. "Ugh, I missed you so fucking much you big jerk." She planted sweet, innocent kisses all over his face.

"Not as much as I missed you, punk." He held her tightly, leaving his own kiss on her cheek. "How was your flight, Dan?"

"I'm not sure I can articulate how I feel about the fifty minutes of hell that I just spent on that barely passable-as-a-flying-machine junk pile." Dani kept her arms around his neck, unwilling to let go of him any time soon.

His thoughts seem to exist on the same plane as her own; he continued to hold her. "That bad, kid?"

Dani snorted. "Bad is an understatement." She stated. "I would rather brave the four hour drive back to Davenport before I spend another hour on a tiny, cramped death-trap with a screaming infant. Which reminds me-" She sighed. "-I need to make an appointment to have my ovaries removed."

"I'm sorry, Dan." He smiled warmly and hugged her once more. "I'll drive you when it's time for you to leave, if you want. I've got nothing but time now."

She hated flying, even if it was only for fifty minutes. The planes were always cramped and she always found herself next to some talkative idiot that didn't understand that Dani had her headphones on for a reason. When you've been up since four AM, the last thing you want to do is listen to a stranger drone on about how excited he is about his first trip to Chicago. After telling the individual that she gave zero legitimate fucks about his life, she had a few brief minutes of silence before the infant behind her began his forty minute crying session.

Dani had the tendency to be moody, she knew that. Nobody could accuse her of being the friendliest woman on the planet, at all. Much like the man holding her in his arms, she could be unashamedly crabby and without filter, especially when she was tired, hungry, and without a shower. She'd had no time for hygiene or breakfast after receiving notice that her flight would be leaving two hours early. It hadn't helped matters that the flight had been miserable for her.

None of it that mattered now, though.

From the moment she'd seen him standing there, forehead wrinkled and eyebrows brought together in that familiar grumpy frown that everyone who loved him knew too well, it had been like instant relief for her.

He'd always had a way of making her feel better, whether he realized it or not. As her best friend held her there in the middle of the airport terminal, she remembered why she braved these crowded airports. Gazing into his sparkling green eyes, both of them too lost in the other's presence to notice the world moving around them, she remembered why it was all worth it.

She would ride a plane filled with a dozen screaming babies, entertain the thoughts of a thousand strangers, and skip breakfast for a month if meant she could spend thirty seconds in his comfort.

"That's a great idea." An unfamiliar voice broke Dani's trance. "I love road trips."

Too excited to see Phil, Dani had been completely oblivious to the small woman standing next to them. She cast a side-long glance in the woman's direction "Phil, do you know this twelve-year-old that just inserted herself in our conversation?"

Dani knew exactly who the woman was. How could she not? With her hair up and face absent of make-up, she wasn't as glamorous as they made her on television but a person would have to live under a rock not to recognize the Divas Champ, AJ Lee. Dani was quite familiar with the woman. She'd seen her backstage on the few occasions that she'd visited Phil and Seth on the road. Given her best friend's "star" status, Dani was skeptical of every woman the entered his life. There were too many women out there that would love to be with him, not because they gave a damn about Phil Brooks, but because he was CM Punk. This was especially true of the Divas backstage. She'd seen it too many times. These women hook up with the biggest name they can and hope it will boost their own career.

Dani had taken it upon herself to learn all she could about AJ after Phil told her they were dating. She'd pulled all the info she could out of Seth. He'd grown so sick of the subject that Phil and AJ's names had been temporarily banned from their home. She started following the Diva on Twitter. Read the Wikipedia article in its entirety. Thanks to success of her own sports blog and podcast, she had a number of connections in the sports industry. She'd called up a few of her fellow journalists who'd had the pleasure of interviewing AJ.

Everyone's opinions had been the same. Friendly. Hard worker. Intelligent. Down-to-earth. Hell of a sense of humor. She'd come from the same meager beginnings as Phil and Dani. She was a beautiful woman with a beautiful personality, they all said. In Dani's opinion, the woman was damn near perfect. Perfect smile. Perfect hair. Perfect body. Perfect personality. The woman was flawless and that rubbed Dani in all the wrong ways. People often hid terrible secrets and ill intentions behind a mask of perfection. Dani had let it go initially, thinking that she would just be another in the long list of Divas he'd dated and eventually got tired of. Her theory was disproven when he called her the week before to tell her that he was getting married.

Dani didn't like AJ. Nothing about the woman sat right with her. Dani had decided that, if this woman was going to marry her best friend, she had to prove herself. She had to show Dani that she loved and wanted to spend the rest of her life with Phil Brooks not take advantage of the fact that she was also marrying CM Punk. If she couldn't make Dani believe that, well, Dani wouldn't be the only one leaving Chicago at the end of this visit. She wouldn't be the first girl Dani ran off. Dani was ready and willing to add AJ to the list containing the likes of Maria Kanellis and Beth Phoenix if AJ couldn't change Dani's mind.

"Haha.." AJ forced a weak (and clearly unconvincing) laugh. "…as if I hadn't heard that one before…."

"Danielle…" Phil shot Dani an all too familiar look of reproach. "This is my fiancé, April."

AJ, smiling with a smug sense of satisfaction at being introduced as his fiancé, extended her hand. "Nice to meet you, Dani. You can just call me AJ."

Dani hopped down from his arms. "You can call me Danielle." Dismissing AJ's hand, she went about adjusting her jeans on her hips and smoothing her shirt on her body. "My friends call me Dani."

Dani felt Phil's elbow in her side. "Be nice, Dani.

"I am being nice, bub." She ignored the warning in his voice. "It's the truth; we aren't friends. I don't know this woman at all." Dani crossed her arms, intently staring down at the woman at least six inches shorter than herself.

An awkward silence hung in between the three of them as the two women continued to stare; each scrutinizing the other.

"Well, you two will have plenty of time to get to know one another when AJ gets back next week." Phil's voice broke the silence.

"Oh, trust me, Phil." A wry smiled teased Dani lips. "I intend to get to know April _very_ well."

"On that note…" AJ cleared her throat. "I should probably let you two get going. I'm sure you want to catch up and I better go if I want to catch my flight on time." She extended her hand to Dani once more. "It was nice meeting you, _Danielle_."

This time Dani accepted AJ's gesture. "Have a nice trip, April." She firmly shook AJ's hand before turning her attention back to her best friend. "I'm going to get my bag and let you two lovebirds say your goodbyes. I'll be outside.

"Leave your bag, I'll grab it." He instructed. "I'll be out in a second and we're going to have a nice talk in the car.."

Dani knew from the stern look on his face what their conversation would entail. He respected her too much to chastise her in front of AJ but he'd never had any hesitations about correcting her when he thought she'd done wrong.

He didn't appreciate her rude behavior towards his fiancé and she was going to hear about it. Dani wasn't concerned with that as she walked away from the couple, though.

She knew he likely missed her too much to be that mad at her. He would tell her how childish she acted, she would acknowledge his opinion, and they'd move on with their day.

A cool gust of the Chicago wind hit her in the face as the automatic doors shut behind her, sending chills through her body. She'd worn long sleeves but regretted packing her jacket in the suitcase still inside with her best friend.

"Quit making kissy-face with that fake bitch and come on…." Dani muttered as her hands rubbed her arms feverously, trying to create some warmth.

She was tired and hungry. She planned to raid his fridge and commandeer his big, warm bed as soon as they made it to his downtown loft.

The twinkle of the ring on Dani's left hand caught her eye as her hands continued rubbing the length of her arms. Dani couldn't help but grin as she held her hand out in front of her, admiring the large rock on her hand. Given to her by her boyfriend of four years, Seth Rollins, before he'd left for Washington D.C. the night before.

Her snack and her nap would have to wait.

First, she needed to break some news of her own.

* * *

**A/N: So, there it is! I don't know about you guys, but I'd be a little peeved if I was AJ and another woman greeted my man like that in an airport...best friends or not. Tehe.**

**Anyway, much love. Hope you enjoyed. See ya next weekend. Be sure to leave your reviews. I like to know what you guys think and I enjoy the interaction with all my darling readers. 3**


	2. Chapter 2

_**So, it is a bit early because I had some extra free time and I was inspired by something. Funny thing is, I can't even remember what it was that inspired me. Either way, here it is, it's a bit longer than the last. Sorry, my little flashback scene took on a life of it's own and turned out a bit longer than I planned. Which reminds me, it's a bit STEAMY. Nothing explicit but, I don't want any mothers beating my doors down because I tainted their kids virgin eyes. So, you've been warned. ENJOY!**_

* * *

_**Friday, October 11**__**th**__** 2002**_

"_**Hold on a goddamn minute!" **__He shouted over the sheets of rain beating down on the roof and the thunder roaring overhead. _

_Phil continued to curse under his breath as he navigated the dark living room. Part of him was curious why anyone would be knocking on his door at two in the fucking morning. Another part of him didn't give a shit what the person wanted and only wanted to answer the door so he could tell the inconsiderate dumbass to fuck off. The only excusable reason to rouse a man from bed at this hour was to tell him someone was dead. Even then, it better be someone extremely important to him._

_That was a very short list for Phil Brooks._

_Whoever was on the other side answered with another repeated, loud rap on the door._

"_**I said give me a damn min-FUCK!" **__He held his breath, his shin pulsing with pain from running it in to the edge of the coffee table, disoriented by the darkness that enveloped the room. Phil doubled over rubbing the throbbing spot. Expelling a breath, he cursed the table and the person on the other side of the door. They would regret the decision to call on him this late. _

"_**Phil, it's Dani!" **__Her knocking came more frantic upon the door. __**"Open the door, please!"**_

_Hearing the distress in her voice, he forgot all about the pain shooting up his leg and the irritation pulsating throughout his body. Motivated by worry for the young girl on the other side of his door, he moved with ease and quickness across the dark living room._

_Hearing her whimper outside his door, he fumbled with the locks, his anxiety hindering his ability to control his hands. It felt like an eternity he'd struggled with the door before he finally swung it open._

_His heart sank at the sight of her. _

_She stood there, soaking wet and broken, tears rolling down her face. Dani looked defeated as she shook her head. It was as if she was trying to convince herself that something terrible hadn't just happened. She raised her gaze to meet his and the last shred of whatever it was that was holding her together broke. She held the back of her hand against her mouth to choke the sob that escaped. Her body trembled with the effort of it._

"_**Dani, what happened?"**_

_She answered by throwing herself into him. He could feel her grasp the sides of his shirt in desperation, clinging to him for life. __**"I hate her, Phil." **__She sobbed into his chest. __**"I hate her so much…" **_

_He didn't need to ask again. He'd only known the teenager for four months but she'd told him enough about her family life to know that she was talking about her mother, the needle junkie. He wondered what awful thing the woman had subjected her daughter to this time._

"_**I know, Dan." **__He wrapped his arms around the girl, holding her tight and close. __**"I know." **_

_Her clothes, a simple white tank-top and black pajama pants, clung to her body as she was soaked through. He could feel her whole body shivering under his grip; the wetness of her soaking the front of his own white t-shirt. __**"C'mon, Dani. Let's get you in here and into some dry clothes before both of us catch pneumonia fucking around out here."**_

* * *

"_**I'm sorry if I woke you up…" **__Dani, wearing naught but a towel wrapped tightly around her slender frame, sniffled from her seat on the edge of his bed. __**"I just didn't know where else to go…" **_

"_**Don't be stupid, kid," **__Phil was busy digging through a basket of clothes he'd washed that afternoon for something that wouldn't swallow the girl. __**"You know I'm here for you twenty-four seven." **__Grabbing an old worn-out Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt and a pair of his gym shorts, he turned to the girl. __**"Why didn't you call me to come get you, Dan? Please tell me you didn't walk…" **__He knew it was a dumb question. Unlike the city, the buses in Lockport stopped running at 10pm. Of course she'd walked._

"_**I couldn't call you…" **__Dani said weakly. __**"She took my phone after I threatened to call the police on her and that creep.." **__Her head hung down, face shielded in her wet, tangled hair. Tears ran down her cheeks as she wept softly._

"_**Dani, tell me what happened." **__He took a seat next to her on the bed._

_She slowly raised her head and stared vacantly into the wall for a few seconds before closing her eyes and taking a deep, labored breath. __**"Gran went out tonight." **__She began. __**"I laid down about midnight, I think." **__She hung her head again, watching her hands fidgeting in her lap. __**"Mom woke me up about one-ish. She had some strange man with her, I've never seen him before, and he just looks like a creep. Mom, she's shaking and shit, I could tell that she hadn't had a fix in days…" **__She swallowed hard, her throat working to expel words that he could tell were difficult for her to say. He placed a hand on her bare knee, squeezing it in encouragement. She stared at it a moment before she continued._

"_**Gran doesn't like Mom in the house when she's not there, for obvious reasons. So, I ask Mom what she is doing there. **_**Mom starts telling me how much she loves me, asking me if I love her, and if I would do anything for her. I'm confused, you know? Why is my no-account mother coming into my bedroom in the middle of the night to tell me she loves me.." **_She paused a moment, her eyes staring off into space again. __**"That's when I noticed how that creep was leering at me…" **__She turned her head, meeting his gaze. He could see the raw emotion on her face and the tears threatening to fall again. _

_His stomach lurched, disgusted at the thought of what she would say next. __**"Dani, did he…" **__His fingers must have gripped her knee a little too tightly, for she flinched and removed his hand, lacing their fingers together instead. _

"_**No." **__She shook her head softly. __**"I ran out of there but he wanted to and she was going to let him." **__The sobs began to carry through her again, tears falling freely. __**"My mother was going to trade me to some pervert in exchange for a needle full of that shit.."**_

_Stunned by her story, he didn't know how to react. He didn't know what to say. He thought his parents had been terrible with their neglect and indifference towards him but trading your daughter for drugs was a new level of low. _

_Murderous anger boiled inside him; he wanted to go out into the storm, find that perverted bastard, and do unspeakable things to him. He wanted to make that man regret ever looking at Dani but he resisted the urge. She needed him but vengeance wasn't what she sought after….._

_He swallowed his anger and pulled her into an embrace. __**"I'm so sorry, Dan." **__He whispered into her damp hair. __**"I'm so sorry.." **_

_She clung to him, continuing to sob into his chest as he slowly rocked her back and forth. He repeated words of comfort over and over to the girl shaking in his arms. _

"_**It's okay…." "You're safe now…" "Nobody will ever hurt you while I'm around…"**_

_He felt like it was his obligation, his duty, to hold her together until the pain stopped….even if it took all night. _

_Some time passed before she finally looked up at him, eyes swollen and misty. A weak smile slowly crept upon her face. __**"Thank you, Phil." **__She sniffled. __**"You are the first person to ever show me any sort of affection…"**_

"_**No problem, kid." **__He returned her smile. __**"I know what it's like to feel like nobody gives a shit but, trust me, I'm always here for you." **__He gently brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face._

_She didn't respond. _

_Dani just stared straight into his eyes and he did hers; her beautiful, sad, haunting brown eyes. She was damaged, that much was true. He'd realized that the day he met the girl in the back of his favorite comic store. But, in a way, that was what made the broken girl so alluring. He'd always felt drawn to people that he felt needed saving and it had been clear to him as he watched the girl browsing comics that day….she needed someone. It was why he'd pretended to want that GI Joe comic. It was why he accepted her apology over her fit when she approached him the next week. He wanted to save her. _

_He wanted to be that someone._

_Slowly, he leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were soft and warm. Much to his surprise, she returned his kiss, throwing her arms around his neck. He could barely distinguish the sound of thunder from the beating of his own heart as she deepened their kiss. __Her tongue met his, tangled, and explored his mouth. She sucked his lower lip between her own, nipping softly at his lip ring._ _The intensity of her kiss caught him off guard. __The way her mouth opened up so eagerly, the way her hands clutched at his shoulders and the way she fluidly shifted from sitting next to him to straddling him. She kissed him greedily and hungrily, like it was her first kiss and she had waited a lifetime. She kissed him like a grown woman, with years of experience under her belt, not the fragile seventeen year old girl she was._

_Her fingertips brushed against his bare chest, trailing down his stomach until they came to rest at the waistline of his shorts. Hooking her thumbs inside the elastic waistline, she tugged down at his bottoms._

_It was then that he pulled back from the voracious young girl. __**"Whoa, Dani, just wait a minute." **__He broke away from her lips and gently grabbed her wrists. __**"That's not a good idea…"**_

_Dani's head tilted, a mixture of confusion and hurt surfacing on her face. __**"You don't want to? I thought-"**_

_Phil knew he would be lying if he told her that he didn't want to. He could __feel the __stirring __of __arousal __low in the pit of __his stomach __from the girl straddling his lap but he fought hard to ignore it. He didn't want to hurt her, which was all he did, hurt people. His passion and commitment to wrestling had already caused him to burn so many bridges. He'd already ruined a number of relationships because nothing came before his love for his craft. _

_The girl was so young, seven years his junior, and her life had already been filled with so much disappointment and let-down. He cared so deeply for her….he couldn't bear the thought of his addition to that list._

"_**You're upset and you aren't thinking straight." **__He brought her hands to his lips. __**"This isn't what you want, Dan." **_

"_**This is exactly what I want, Phil." **__She nodded fervently. __**"You are the only person who has ever cared about me or shown me any form of love. I want to show you that I care, too." **__She began to slowly lean into him again. __**"I want to give myself to you."**_

_Her soft lips were inching closer and he could feel her breath on his lips, the air between them crackling with want. __Their lips met slowly, brushing lightly against each other, and he was briefly tempted to pull her in deeper._

"_**No, Danielle!" **__He pushed her from his lap and back on to the bed. __**"I fucking said NO!" **__He bit his lip to resist himself from shouting in frustration as he began to pace the bedroom floor. _

_The frustration did not stem from Dani; he could never be upset with the broken shards of the beautiful girl on his bed. It emanated from the battle raging within him. The libido-driven male inside of him wanted to give her what she wanted; it wanted to take the girl to bed. Then there was his nobler, sensible side telling him all the reasons he shouldn't; all the reasons it would be wrong._

_Dani stood from the bed in a huff. __**"What? Am I only good enough for my mom's dirty drug dealers?" **_

"_**That is not it, Dani." **__He raked his hand through his hair, continuing the pace the floor and avoid her eyes.__** "That's not it at all."**_

_**"Why don't you want me?"**__ Angry desperation stole her voice. __**"Am I not good enough for you, huh, Phil?"**__ The emotion in her trembling voice hit him the center of his chest. __**"Am I not as pretty as those ring rats I see you flirting with every weekend?"**__ Tears brimmed in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks.__Phil just shook his head; the poor girl had no idea..._

_He immediately closed the painful distance between them and took the girls face in his hands._

_**"No, Danielle."**__ He touched her cheek lightly, staring intensely into her eyes. __**"You are more than enough, sweetheart, and you are heartbreakingly beautiful whether you realize it or not. You are so much better than any of those girls, brat."**__ He softly caressed the length of her jaw and tilted her chin up with his finger. __**"You're just so young, Dan, it wouldn't be right."**_

"_**You're only twenty-three, Phil." **__She looked up at him, her big, watery brown eyes pleading with him to hear the truth she spoke. __**"It's only seven years and seventeen is the age of consent." **__She pressed herself against him, slipping her fingers inside the waistline of his shorts again. __**"I am not a child and this is my choice to make for myself, nobody else's." **_

_Dani stepped back from him. __**"I choose you." **__She pulled the towel away, letting it slip from her delicate body._

_He tried not to look at her, but failed miserably. Her naked body attracted him, fascinated him. He desperately wanted to respond to the invitation her body offered._

"_**Fuck it.." **__He gave in, grabbing her face and pulling her lips into his own. He kissed her deeply as his hands slipped down her body, pressing his palms firmly against her waist and bringing her into his chest. Dani clasped the back of his neck, pulling him down into her mouth, kissing him with more force than before._

_She moaned into his mouth and his body reacted with a flash of heat. He pushed her back gently, intent on getting her back in the bed. She fell back with her legs dangling off the edge while he stood between them. He looked down at the sight she made with her chest heaving up and down with anticipation. _

_Finally, taking her by the hips, he slid her further up on the bed and positioned his body over hers. _

"_**Are you sure, Dan?" **__He murmured, leaning down to kiss her softly._

_She wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding her hips against his own. _

"_**I'll take that as a 'yes'…" **__He whispered as he began to pepper wet kisses down the girl's neck. _

_She shuddered in response, running her hands over his back muscles. The touch of Dani's hands caused him to bite down on her neck. Dani moaned loudly. Without removing his face from the crook of her neck, he slid his hand down the curves of her body, slipping his hand to her inner thigh, further up between her legs. _

_Dani's breath hitched in her throat and he could feel her body tense under his touch. _

_He lifted his head to meet her gaze. __**"What's wrong, Dani?" **__He'd been too caught up in the passion of the moment before, but he suddenly noticed that she was trembling and he would swear her brown eyes were filled with fear and anxiety. _

_Her words began to play back in his head._

"_**I want to give myself to you…." "…..this is my choice to make for myself…"**_

_The realization hit him._

"_**Danielle?" **__He swallowed hard. __**"Have you ever…."**_

_She bit down on her lip and shook her head. _

_All of his earlier reservations came flooding back with her answer. __**"No, Dani." **__He immediately protested. __**"I'm not doing it, Dani. You deserve for your first-" **__He started to move from her, refusing to be the one to tarnish his friend's innocence._

"_**My first time should be with someone I care about, that cares about me." **__She tightened her legs around his waist, restricting him from movement. Her brown eyes stared up at him with such want, such longing. __**"Please, Phil." **__She was all but begging. __**"I want it to be you." **__Her hand went to his face, brushing a strand of his own hair behind his ear. She smiled at him gingerly before placing a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. __**"It has to be you."**_

_He looked down at her. She was so fragile, innocent, and beautiful._

_The best things in life always were._

_She was right. He did care about her; probably more than she realized. If she really insisted, if it really __**had**__ to be him, then at least he could be comfortable knowing her first time was with someone who gave a fuck about her. Someone who would take their time and be gentle with her._

"_**Alright, Dan." **__He stroked her face. __**"You just let me know and I'll stop whenever you want me to."**_

* * *

_She drew in a slow breath, trying to calm down the butterflies in her stomach. She could feel her heart beating against her rib cage much faster than it should be. _

"_**We don't have to do this, Dan."**__ He whispered, his thumb trailing across her cheek, caressing her skin. __**"I'm only doing this because you want me to."**_

_Dani shook her frantically. _

_She wanted to. _

_Of course, it had not been her intention when she ran to him for comfort, but they were here nonetheless. _

_After being offered up by her own mother to a sleezy stranger in exchange for her drugs, she wanted to feel some worth. He was the only one who'd ever made her feel that way. _

_So many things had been taken from her in her life; her father, her childhood, her happiness. Her innocence and her virtue were all she'd had. The one thing she thought nobody could ever take from her, but her mother had proved her wrong. It could be easily taken from her, but she wouldn't allow that. It would happen eventually and, when it did, it would be on her own terms with the person she loved and trusted. _

_He was the only person that fell into either of those categories._

_With her reassurance, he hesitantly set back to his task of exploring the young girl's body. _

_Dani closed her eyes as she felt his lips on her neck, the warmth between her thighs increasing as he nibbled her ear. His hands skimmed her body, leaving heat and sensation everywhere he touched. They were new to her, and strange, all the new sensations he awakened within her as trailed kisses down her neck and across her shoulder. With her mother always gone and her grandmother always preoccupied with a bottle, she'd never been taught about her own body, how it reacted and what it needed. There certainly wasn't any instruction manual on the subject….but she trusted the man before her to handle her as he should._

"_**Dani, Dani, Dani." **__He mumbled her name, like a prayer, against her skin. _

_Chills ran through her already trembling body as his hand slid over her rib cage. He began to move down her body, peppering those tender kisses down the center of her belly. She ran her fingers through his hair, feeling his hand slip between the hollow of her thighs once more. She tried to relax as he touched and caressed her in places and ways she'd never experienced before. _

_A strangely pleasant throbbing was growing in the space between her legs, leaving her with a wet, heated feeling. __**"Phil.." **__She breathed his name. _

"_**Dani.." **__He place one last soft kiss just above her waistline before looking up to meet her gaze. His stunning green eyes burned with lust and passion. __**"Are you sure? Are you ready?"**_

_She nodded, unable to find the words. _

_With her affirmation, he moved from her body and stood from the bed, leaving Dani with a sense of confusion._

_She rested on her elbows. __**"What are you doing?" **__He brow knitted together watching him walk across the room. She thought back on the last few minutes, wondering if she'd done something to make him change his mind again._

"_**Dani.." **__He answered her. __**"There's a lot I want to do with my life…" **__She continued to watch as he opened the top drawer of his dresser and began to rifle through it. __**"But.." **__Her questions were answered once he turned to her shaking the small plastic package he'd retrieved from the drawer. __**"Getting my seventeen year old friend pregnant is NOT part of any of those plans.."**_

"_**Oh." **__She could barely utter the word._

_It was entirely possible that her entire body was shivering from the cool air wafting into his bedroom from the window; the one he kept open to stay cool during those warm Chicago summer nights. It was more than likely, though, that it was from the realization setting in._

_It was about to happen. She'd imagined it a million times in her head; the losing of her virginity. She began to chew on her lip, nerves on edge. Part of her, anxious about the pain she knew would come with the moment and the risks associated like pregnancy, wanted to turn back. Just put on the clothes he'd given her, curl up next to him, and go to sleep. She ignored the urge. _

"_**You can still change your mind, Dan." **__He'd rejoined her on the bed. __**"We don't have to do this, sweetheart." **__His was intense and passionate above her, his emerald orbs sharp in their brightness._

_Continuing to bite down on her lip, Dani shook her head. There was no turning back for her. There would never be a better time or place than there and with him._

"_**Alright, Dan." **__His lips brushed across her forehead. __**"Just lay back and relax." **_

_She did as instructed and rested back on the bed, taking a deep breath as he nudged her legs open and positioned himself between them. __**"Now, Dani.." **__He hesitated once more. __**"This is going to hurt a bit at first.." **__He explained. __**"But just hold on to me and I promise the pain won't last long at all." **_

_Again, she just nodded, afraid the nerves in shaking voice would just make him question the entire idea again. _

_His warm, toned body gently pressed against her and she could feel his heart beating wildly against her own. __**"Hold on to me, Dan." **__He whispered in her ear. _

_Again, she did as instructed and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. _

_Her entire body was shaking, nervous with anticipation, but she could still feel the tingles and shivers racing up her spine from the feel of his hand slipping down her side and underneath her hip, bringing her pelvis closer against his own._

_Just like he said, it hurt._

_She winced, a small whimper escaping her lips from the mixture of pain and pleasure she felt upon him entering her. She felt him slow down, as if he was considering pulling out and forgetting the whole thing. She tightened her arms around his neck, signaling that she wanted him to continue. Clinging to him, Dani closed her eyes trying to get past the burning in her lower half as she adjusted to the feeling of him inside her. Then, almost immediately, just like he had told her…the pain began to dissipate and her trembling nerves were replaced with moans and groans of pleasure._

_The cool sweat beginning to drip from both of their bodies and the warmth of his heavy breath against her collarbone set Dani on fire. Her first time was quickly becoming so much better than she ever thought it would be. Nothing could have ever prepared her for the complete and utter ecstasy of joining together with another, especially one you cared about so completely. _

_Feeling the coil in her stomach winding up tightly, she dug her nails in the back of his shoulders, her hips rising to meet him with his every stroke. She cried out his name from the unfamiliar sensation building and building within her body. In response, his mouth came down on hers in a passionate kiss as her first sex-induced orgasm shook her body. He didn't stop. His hand grabbed her behind her right knee, lifting her leg, and angling himself deeper. Dani moaned in his mouth, brown eyes shutting tightly against the overwhelming sensations moving throughout her entire body. He continued to kiss her deeply as he quickened his pace. With her increased sensitivity from her first burst of pleasure, a second quickly rippled through her body just as he fell apart in her arms from his own climactic finish._

_He collapsed next to her on the bed, both of their bodies glistening with sweat. __**"Are you okay, Danielle?" **__He asked breathlessly beside her._

_They were both breathing heavy and deep from their recent exercise._

"_**Mhmm." **__She answered, staring up at the ceiling. She was more than okay but she couldn't verbalize that. She couldn't articulate the way she was feeling at that moment at all. It was complete euphoria for her, laying there with her best friend after giving him such a precious piece of her. She continued to lay there in trance, watching his ceiling fan spin above her, as he moved from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. _

_It was only a few moment before he returned to her side and pulled her into his nook. __**"Goodnight, Dan." **__He kissed her forehead, running his hand up and down her back as she rested her spent body in his arms._

_Dani could feel a smile forming on her face as she closed her eyes, drifting off into slumber. She said the first thing that came to her mind. She couldn't resist saying the words that felt right. __**"I love you, Phil."**_

* * *

"That was a pretty bitchy move back there, Danielle." No sooner had she shut the passenger-side door and fastened her seatbelt did he start in on her about her behavior in the airport. Exactly as she expected…

Dani just shrugged from her spot in the passenger seat and kicked her black _Vans_ covered feet up on the dashboard. "How long have you known me, Phillip?" She pulled her phone out of her pocket and began to scroll through all the texts and emails she'd missed while on the plane. "Did you really expect anything less from me?"

"You're right, Danielle." He expelled a woeful sigh. "It was pretty ridiculous of me to think that my supposed '_best friend'_ could push hateful and petty behavior aside long enough to be friendly to my fiancé, the woman I love and plan to marry." He turned the keys in the ignition before shooting Dani a quick, scornful look. "Yeah, my bad." Sarcasm and irritation saturated his words.

Dani looked over at her best friend but couldn't hold his eye contact when she saw all the disappointment in his tense face. Under his scrutiny, she felt so small. With her lack of filter and outspoken personality, Dani made people upset on a daily basis. He was the only one that ever mattered. The only person she couldn't stand to upset.

"It's not that big of a deal, Phil." Dani sat up in the seat, trying to dismiss the current conversation. "I was just fucking with the girl. You know? Just trying to feel her out?" She lied. She couldn't stand AJ or the "false" air about her.

He wasn't going to let it go so easily. "I, and the rest of our friends, have spent the entire month and most of this morning trying to convince her that everything was okay. You and I are just friends, almost siblings, if you will." He tossed his hands up. "You showing up and acting like a jealous child didn't help the situation, Danielle."

She couldn't remember the last time he'd been this upset –especially with her- as she sat there under the scrutiny of his burning green eyes. If that wasn't enough to signal that he was actually angry with her, he kept calling her _Danielle._

He never called her _Danielle._

"I wasn't acting like a 'jealous child', Phillip." She retorted. "If anything, she was the one acting jealous, inserting herself into our conversation and it's not like I didn't see the way she was looking at me and sizing me up." Bitterness welled up in her throat, as she crossed her arms and stared out the windshield to avoid his gaze. "It's not my fault if the little bitch is insecure about your relationship. It's certainly not my job to make her comfortable."

"Yes, it is, Danielle!" He said, driven to exasperation with the stubborn girl next to him. "You are my best friend and she is going to be my _wife_. You two have to get along or else-"

"Or else what, Phil?" Dani turned to him. "Or else what?" She challenged him. "You're going to throw away our 12 year friendship over some piece of ass that you haven't even dated for a year? Is that what you are saying?" Now she was the one getting irritated.

He sighed at her accusation. "Damn it, Danielle." His features softened only a bit before becoming resolute. "You know it would be the exact fucking opposite." His shoulder's drooped in resignation. "You are the most important person in my life. If it came down to it, you or AJ? Without a question, it'd be you, but please don't make it come down to that, Dan." He reached over, lacing her fingers in his own. "I love AJ, just like you love Seth, and I deserve to be as happy with her as you are with him."

Dani felt her own bitterness waning from the sight of his sad eyes staring at her. She never could tell him no. He was her best friend. Just like he would for her, she would give him anything to make him happy.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "I'll give the little scallywag a chance, if it makes you happy." She slouched back down in the passenger seat. "I don't know why she would be so worried about you and me.." Dani mumbled, pouting like the child he'd just accused her of acting. "You didn't tell her about, well, you know…"

He immediately shook his head. "Nope. No way." He laughed. "Are you serious? _Look, babe, my best friend is coming to stay with me for two weeks. Don't worry, it's all cool, nothing has ever happened between us unless you count the time I took her virginity." _ He snickered at the absurdity of his statement. "Tell AJ, are you serious? Did you tell Seth?"

Dani nodded. "Yep, it's not that big a deal. It happened twelve years ago and nothing ever came of it. We're just friends." She stated matter-of-factly. "I told him when we started dating. I wouldn't be with someone who I felt I couldn't be wholly honest with and Seth understands that, despite that one night, there's nothing romantic about the feelings you and I share."

"Yeah, well, AJ isn't as understanding as your sweet 'Sethy Poo'." He smirked.

Dani was tired of the conversation, sick of hearing about his little twit fiancé. She could pretend to be nice to the woman but that didn't erase her true feelings towards her. "Speaking of Seth.." Dani cleared her throat, sitting up straight in the seat. "I have some news for you, bub." She felt the excitement bubbling within, a wide grin spreading across her face, so ready to tell him.

"Oh yeah?" His brow raised. "What's that?"

Dani held her hand out, exposing the huge diamond on her ring finger. "BOOM."

She watched as his jaw dropped, eyes jumping from her ring up to face and back down to the ring again. "Danielle, is that? Did Seth?" He sputtered over his words. "Engaged? You're engaged."

"Yes, sir." She answered, biting down on her smile, still waiting for his reaction. From the moment she'd accepted Seth's proposal in their kitchen, she'd kept herself from being excited, from feeling any sort of elation. She couldn't be excited. She couldn't be happy, no, not until she'd gotten the approval of the only other man in her life that mattered.

She quickly got the response she'd been waiting for.

"Wow, Danielle." He sat back in his seat, shaking his head in disbelief. "If someone had told me twelve years ago that your little mean ass would be a successful journalist and engaged to a great guy like Seth, I would have called them a goddamn liar."

"Nice to know that you expected me to just fail at life, bub." She giggled.

He reached over and squeezed her knee. "That's not what I meant, kid." He winked. "I always knew you would do big things. I just never thought you would be the marrying type, brat."

"People said the same thing about you, including yourself." She returned.

He drew in a deep breath, tapping his fingertips on the steering wheel. "Yep." He smiled over at her. "…and he we are. The both of us about to take the plunge."

"I'm glad that you are okay with it, Phil, because I need a favor." She took his hands in hers again, giddy with the excitement building within her again. As soon she'd answered Seth's question…she'd been ready and eager to ask her best friend a question of her own.

"Hm?"

She locked eyes with the one person, apart from Seth, who meant anything to her in this life. Her best friend. Her only family. All she'd ever had. Despite traditions, he was the only person she would bestow upon the honor. He was the only person worthy of the task. "Phil…I want you to help me plan my wedding." She squeezed his hand. "I want you to be my maid, err, _MAN o_f honor._"_

* * *

**_Well, well, well. Looks like Punk forgot to share and important little tidbit of information with AJ. Tsk, tsk, tsk._**

**_Hope you guys enjoyed! Be sure to leave your thoughts. Much loves! Hugs for all._**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Saturday, October 12**__**th**__** 2002**_

_Dani woke the next morning in a cold, empty bed, naked body partly covered by a blanket he must have put over her after she'd fallen asleep the night before. _

"_**Phil?" **__She rolled over to find only wrinkled sheets and the indentation on his pillow. _

_**'...Die die die my darling...Don't utter a single word...Die die die my darling...Just shut your pretty eyes...'**_

_Sitting up in the bed, her attention was drawn to the sound of music playing outside the closed bedroom door. She recognized the dark tune; it was her favorite Misfits song._

_She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, dangling her feet above the cold hardwood floor. Smiling, she gripped the edge of the mattress as she thought about the night before, elated at what had transpired between her and her best friend. Standing from the bed, she realized that she wasn't even sore. She'd assumed after losing her virginity that she would feel sore, or at least different. She just felt normal. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she felt so content or well-rested. _

_Dani glanced at the clock on the bedside table. _

_1:55 PM._

_She rubbed her eyes, certain they were failing her, and took another look at the clock._

_1:56 PM._

_Dani couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so late. During the weekdays, she was up and out of the house by 7 AM for school. On the weekends, she made it her goal to be up and out of the house before her grandmother started drinking or her mother showed up. It was a welcome change; to feeling secure enough to sleep soundly for once._

_A growl emanated from the girl's insides and she decided that it was time to start her day. She was anxious to see what her best friend planned to get into on this Saturday and make him fix her something to appease her rumbling stomach. _

_Quickly scanning the room, her clothes weren't in plain sight. So, she grabbed Phil's shirt from the floor, slipped it over her head, and tighten the drawstring of his gym shorts on her slender waist before exiting the bedroom._

_Following the sounds of her favorite band into the kitchen, she was greeted with the sight of her shirtless friend standing over the stove with a spatula and a carton of eggs open on the counter._

_Too busy humming and bobbing his head along with the music as he scrambled the eggs in the pan, he didn't notice her standing in the doorway. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him._

_The first one to find her, the first one, in a long while, to show her kindness or affection. The words had slipped from her mouth the night before but she didn't realize how true they were until this moment. Watching him, she realized that she was in love with everything about him: his piercing green eyes, the messy blonde hair he kept pulled back with its few errant strands hanging in his face, the hard line of his jaw and the stubble that covered it, and the fact that he had absolutely no rhythm. _

_She couldn't stifle the giggle that came with watching him move his head completely out of sync with the music blaring through the kitchen._

"_**So nice of you to grace the world of the living with your presence, brat." **__He gave her quick wink and turned his attention back to the food cooking on the stove. __**"I was seriously about to come check for a pulse, kid."**_

_Dani shuffled over to the table and plopped down, pulling her legs up and crossing them in the chair. __**"I guess walking three miles in the pouring rain will drain a person." **__She yawned and stretched, arms reaching skyward._

"_**Well, I am glad you were able to get some much-needed rest, Dan." **__He placed a plate of steaming food on the table in front of her before taking a seat with his own plate across from her. __**"How are you feeling this morning?"**_

_A wide grin was plastered on Dani's face as she looked down at the plate in front of her. He'd made her favorite; eggs scrambled with cheese and ham. _

_How could one person be so perfect?_

"_**I feel great." **__It was an understatement. Nothing could describe the feelings bubbling to life inside her. It was an overwhelming feeling of pure bliss, nothing but utter perfection. _

_Soft growls erupted from Dani's stomach again from the scent of the food in front of her. __**"I can't remember the last time I felt so awesome." **__She smiled before shoving a fork full of eggs into her mouth._

"_**Good." **__He nodded._

_Dani concentrated on her plate of food, shoving fork full after forkful into her mouth. She hadn't realized how ravenous she was until actually getting a taste of food. With an alcoholic grandmother and a junkie mother, meals were few and far between at her house. If she didn't eat at school, she usually didn't eat at all on that day. _

_She was probably half-way through her plate when she noticed he wasn't eating. Instead, he kept his eyes on his plate moving the food around with his fork. __**"No breakfast for you, chump?" **__She asked._

"_**Danielle..." **__He took a deep, shaky breath and looked up at her. She felt her own appetite dwindling away from the sight of the pained expression on his face, __**"Dani, I, uh, I-" **__He hesitated, drawing another deep breath before continuing. __**"Dani, I need to talk to you about last night."**_

"_**Okay." **__Dani answered softly. __**"What about it?"**__ Now she was the one using her fork to play with the food on her plate, averting his nervous eyes._

_Her stomach was in knots, but no longer from hunger. Dread was manifesting within her; she knew disappointment was on its way. _

"_**Dani, I don't know how to say this..." **__He chewed his lip ring nervously. __**"...you mean a lot to me. Getting to share last night with you meant a lot to me but-"**_

"_**You regret it, don't you?" **__Dani asked softly, keeping her eyes down._

_She immediately felt his hand taking her own, squeezing it tightly. __**"No, Danielle, I don't regret it for a moment." **__He quickly reassured her. __**"I just wish we had taken a moment to make our intentions clear." **_

_Dani felt that familiar sadness creeping into her. It was paired with the shame she also felt for allowing her heart to hope. She'd made her intentions well-known the night before. She wanted him. She chose him. It was slowly becoming clear that she'd made a mistake in thinking that he felt the same._

"_**There's no easy way to say this, not after last night, so I am just going to come out and say it, Danielle." **__He inhaled deeply. Dani could tell the words pained him, but that didn't stop him from saying them. __**"We can't be anything more than friends, Dan."**_

_Just a simple sentence. Seven words. Nine syllables. _

…_..but it hit her like a punch in the gut._

"_**Please, Dan." **__He squeezed her hand again. __**"Don't think it's you, because it's not." **__He explained. __**"It's me, brat. We both know how many bridges I've already exploded thanks to my commitment to wrestling." **_

_Fighting off the tears welling up in her eyes, Dani shut them tightly. __**"I understand."**__ She lied, still refusing to raise her head and meet his gaze.__** "Wrestling is your priority. You don't have the time for a relationship..." **__The words were more for her own comfort than his._

"_**Exactly, Dan." **_

_She felt his thumb caressing the back of her hand. She wanted to pull away from his touch, feeling a surge of incredible, burning betrayal. She didn't want to give it away, though. She never let her mother see the pain she caused her. She never let her grandmother see her disappointment. He wouldn't see it either. She would tuck this away just like the rest of the heartbreak that filled her life. _

"_**Plenty of girls will tell you that I am a better friend than a boyfriend." **_

_Dani nodded, slowly raising her head. __**"I know, Phil. Besides..." **__In spite of her sadness, Dani struggled to steady her voice. __**"...who wants a boyfriend that likes to get half-naked and roll around with other men?" **__She played it cool, picking up her fork and taking a bite of the breakfast she no longer had a taste for. _

_The tiny voice in the back of her head screamed the answer: __**"You do, stupid!" **__In spite of it, she still cared about him and she could tell from the way he'd struggled to tell her the truth that he still cared deeply for her. He was all she had and she would settle for him in any fashion. _

_No matter how badly it hurt, she would settle with being only friends._

* * *

_**Sunday, March 30**__**th**__** 2014**_

_**Washington D.C.**_

"Danielle Elizabeth Reed, this is your fiance."He immediately felt stupid for just saying the words. Of course she would know it was him when she got the message. It was the same phone number he'd been calling her from for almost five years. It was also the twelfth voice mail he'd left for her that day. "I guess you and Punk are balls deep in old Preacher comics, Walking Dead re-runs, or outside on the balcony making fun of the little hipster punks on the street but pick up your phone." He noticed his tone was expressing more irritation than he intended. The last thing he wanted was to fight with her when he did reach her. He took a deep breath and softened his tone before continuing. "I haven't heard from you since your plane left Molina. Call me back. Let me know you are okay. I miss you. I love you. Call me, Dani."

Seth had been overcome with worry for most of the day. His racing mind hadn't been able to focus on anything since he left the hotel that morning. Dean and Roman had noticed his distraction at the gym which led to Dean teasing him for the rest of the day.

"_Oh, look. Seth can't have any fun without running it by the ole' ball and chain first." _The incorrigible bachelor called out when Seth dismissed himself from their table inside _Nellie's Sports Bar_. _"If she answers the phone this time. She's off having waaaaay TOO much fun with Punk." _

As he usually did when Dean decided to pick at him about his long-term relationship, Seth just shook his head and laughed at Dean's implication before walking out of the bar.

Still, as he stood on the sidewalk outside the establishment, the thought was at the forefront of his mind. What could she possibly be doing that would keep her from answering the phone calls from the man she'd agreed to marry only 24 hours ago?_"_

"Don't be stupid, Rollins."Seth mumbled to himself, shoving his phone into his pocket. "Dean is just trying to get a rise out of you. You know there's nothing going on with Dani and Punk." He wasn't going to let Dean or his anxiety set his brain to imagining any worst case scenarios. There was probably a legitimate and understandable reason why she wasn't answering her phone.

"If you're worried about her, don't be. Her plane landed safely in Chicago this morning." A familiar voice came from behind him. "I had the _pleasure _of meeting her before my flight left."

Seth turned to find his co-worker and Divas Champion, AJ Lee, standing on the sidewalk behind him. "Hey, AJ." He was surprised to see the Diva outside a sports bar in downtown Washington but he wasn't surprised to hear the sarcasm behind her tone. "From the way you say it, sounds like it wasn't a pleasure at all?"

"Well.." AJ feigned a smile. "Philip did tell me that she could be a bit overwhelming at first..."

"That's my girl..." He couldn't help himself but to snicker at thought of Dani's first meeting with her best friend's future wife. There weren't many people who could claim that their first encounter with Dani was a pleasant one "She's definitely an acquired taste for most people but she means well." Seth shrugged. "Don't let her abrasive exterior fool you; she has a big heart and good intentions."

"Oh, yes." AJ puffed derisively. "Calling me a twelve-year-old and telling me that we weren't friends was certainly well-intentioned."

Seth wore a serious expression, quite contradictory of his inner emotions. If AJ knew about the names Dani called her at home, she would know that those statements were pretty tame for Dani. "Was she that bad?" He crossed his arms, trying to stifle the laughter threatening his body.

"You should have seen the way the woman looked at me, Rollins." AJ shook her head. _"_Like I was a diseased bird she found in her garden and she needed to put me down. She hates me."

The distress was painted all over AJ's delicate features and her tone. Dani's statements had really gotten to the young Diva. She didn't know Dani like Seth and Punk knew Dani. She didn't realize that the woman was just being, well, _Dani._ As much as Seth wanted to laugh at the thought of his foul-mouthed, tom-boy fiancé doling around in anyone's garden...he didn't want AJ to think he was taking her strife lightly.

"Nah, she hates flying with a passion. She's always in rare form when she lands." He attempted to reassure AJ even though he knew it was a lie. Dani hated AJ. He couldn't tell her that but, if he did, he would tell her that it was nothing personal. As long as Seth had known Punk and Dani, there hadn't been ONE woman walk into Punk's life that Dani DIDN'T hate.

AJ smirked. "From what I've heard, _bitchy _isn't that rare of a form for her." She mumbled.

"Hey, AJ." Despite trying to comfort the woman before, he suddenly felt a rush of irritation towards her and her comment. "I know Dani can be a moody little brat when she wants to be, but she is still my girlfriend and you will show her some respect in any conversation with me." He quickly defended his better half.

The air between the two was suddenly silent, broken only by the sound of passing cars or the occasional footsteps of a passerby.

"I'm sorry, Seth." She sighed, breaking the awkward tension between them. "It just bothers me that she can decide to hate me without taking a chance to get to know me."

Seth's eyes went to the large pane window of the bar and he quickly spotted his friends at their table. Of course, Dean had some random blonde on his lap. The laughter and drinks were clearly flowing. They were having a fun time without a thought to him outside, fussing over his MIA fiancé. He would rather be in their company than trying to comfort AJ on the street.

"Look, AJ." His shoulders drooped, resigning himself to the fact that he couldn't just leave the upset woman on the street. "To understand Dani's behavior towards you, you need to understand her relationship with Punk."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." AJ groaned, rolling her eyes. "They're like siblings. He saved her from a crappy home life. He was her only friend. Blah. Blah. Blah." She huffed. "That's no reason for her to be so rude to me. Is Phil rude to you?"

Seth made no attempt to hide his amusement at this question. "Is that a trick question, AJ?" He laughed. "Punk's an asshole to everyone." How could this woman live with that man and be bothered by anything Dani could throw at her? He'd been the one to teach the girl everything she knew about being a complete prick.

"You know what I meant..."

"Punk and I have always been cool, AJ." He answered her question. "I've known him since he was training the kids up in Philly for Ring of Honor. He's always been cool with our relationship because he knows what I am about and he's the one that introduced us. I know he'd kick my ass if I hurt her, though." He smiled at the thought of his feisty fiancé. "Hell, she'd probably kick my ass."

AJ returned his smile. "She seems like a tough egg."

"She is." Seth nodded. '"She had to be in the environment she grew up in but she's also very loving and fiercely protective of those she loves. Especially Punk."

"What do I need to do to show her that she doesn't need to protect my fiance from me?" AJ asked. "I love him as much as she does, probably more."

"No, you don't AJ." Seth stated emphatically. "Nobody loves those two more than they love one another." It was something he'd come to terms with a long time ago. Even though he knew Dani loved him unconditionally, he would always be second in her life to the man she considered her big brother.

"That's not okay." AJ exclaimed, blatantly expressed her discontent with the relationship between their respective spouses. "A person's significant other should-"

Seth held up his hand, cutting the Diva off. "I am going to stop you right here, AJ." He liked AJ. She was a nice girl and a good fit for Punk. She was also naive, in his opinion. For this reason, he felt it was his responsibility to warn the girl not step over the line she was treading. "If you love Punk, you will not try to come in between him and Dani. You wouldn't be the first girl to try and fail. Ask any of his exes."

"Well, it just seems messed up to me..."

"It isn't." Seth stated. "They're family and family is over everything." He peered over AJ's head at his friends inside. Roman and the mysterious blonde both wore wide grins and it looked like Dean was in the middle of telling some wild story or joke. He just wanted to be inside with his friends. "I'm going to make this simple for you, AJ." He grabbed her shoulders, leaning in closer to the Diva's face. "You want Dani to like you, right?"

AJ nodded fervently. "Yes. There's absolutely no way my relationship with Philip will work if she doesn't like me and I don't want to lose him, Seth."

"Then take my advice, AJ." He stared into her sad eyes, hungry for all the help she could get. "Stay out of her way. AJ."

AJ's brow furrowed, confusion washing over her face. It wasn't the grand advice she'd been expecting. "What?"

"Stay out of her way." He reiterated. "Accept that she will ALWAYS be the most important woman in your fiance's life and do right by him." He informed her. "You do those two things and you will be golden. Trust me, I've been in your place for the last four years."

_**'Anything is what she is..Anywhere is where she's from..Anything is what she'll be..Anything as long as it's mine'**_

Seth's phone rang in his pocket before AJ had any opportunity to answer. He hated the ringtone, the one she'd set for herself in his phone, but it was relief to his ears. He'd waited for it all day.

"It's been nice talking to you, AJ, but there's my girl calling now." He pulled the phone from his pocket. "Just follow my advice and you'll be fine."

_**'Point me to the sky above..I can't get there on my own..Walk me to the graveyard..Dig up her bones'**_

The phone in his hand continued to call for his attention. "I gotta go, AJ, but you have a nice night." He smiled at the Diva one last time before walking away. "Oh, yeah." He turned to her one more time. "Good luck ."

He shook his head as he brought the phone to his ear.

Better women had gone toe to toe with his fiancé over Punk and better woman had failed. That girl was going to need all the luck she could get.

* * *

**A/N: So, sorry it was late. Hmm. Maybe if you guys left more than FOUR reviews...I would be inspired to get these out a bit quicker. Just kidding! I would never hold a story hostage over reviews. I love writing far too much for that and it is poor form. Still, c'mon guys, I really like to read them and know you guys are enjoying the story. I know the build is slow but it's going to get good and I mean...GOOOOOOOOD...very soon. I will be on time next weekend, I worked a messed up schedule last week and was too pooped to write.**

**So, hope you enjoyed. Be sure to fav, follow, and review. 3  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, yeah, I know. I am late, okay! Sorry. I don't know if any of you have flown from Chicago to Atlanta but the trip sucks. Atlanta sucks and I've been cleaning my grandmother's too-big-for-one-old-woman house all weekend. Nevertheless, I apologize. I will try to be more timely. You guys just keep leaving those reviews.**

* * *

**Saturday, March 29th 2014**

**Davenport, IA**

_Seth Rollins never got nervous - except when he did._

_Tonight was one of those exceptions._

_Lighting the last candle on the dining room table, Seth's nerves were tingling from the sea of anxiety he felt deep down._

_Having bought the ring six months ago, he'd been planning this for a long time and waiting for a moment that felt right._

_He'd had many opportunities, so many special days had passed._

_Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Years. Valentines Day._

_That wasn't them, though. _

_They weren't the cliché couple that dressed up for fancy dinner parties or drank champagne for special occasions. They were the couple that sat in bed, watched Seth Rogen movies, and ate pizza for any occasion._

_Piled up in the bed the night before, her head on his chest and his dog, Kevin, nuzzled against his side...he realized that it couldn't wait any longer_

_Amused by her favorite movie, 'A Night At The Roxbury', on the television screen, her infectious laughter filled the room. He loved her laugh and it could brighten his darkest of moods. Every so often, she would glance up at him with big, beautiful, completely flawless smile and her brown eyes shining with contentment. Her smile was soft and happy; the reason he'd fallen for her in the first place...that smile. It filled him with peace. _

_There would never be one perfect moment because every second he spent with the woman was more than he could ever wish for. She was perfect._

_Seth wouldn't wait any longer...tonight was the night._

_He was finally going to propose to his girlfriend of four years and the love of his life._

_The thought of stepping it up had crossed his mind. Him in a suit and her in a dress in the middle of some fancy restaurant...ring in the bottom of the champagne glass. He'd quickly pushed that idea away. Dani hated dresses, her crude personality always got stares when they went to sophisticated places, and she was so clumsy she'd probably drink the damn ring. _

_While it would be an interesting story to tell their future children, he didn't want to propose to her with the x-ray image of her ring in the emergency room of Genesis Medical Center._

_Instead, true to the simple nature of their relationship, he'd decided on a few candles and her favorite homemade meal, chicken enchilada casserole in the kitchen of the home they'd shared for three years._

_**"Alright, Kevin." **__He picked up the small terrier begging for attention at his feet. __**"I think we got everything..." **__He did a once over of the candlelit room. _

_Flowers? Check._

_Candles? Check._

_Food on the table? Check._

_Ring? Check._

_**"The only thing missing is the woman." **__Seth commented to himself, scratching the ear of the small dog in his arms. He glanced at the clock on the stove. _

_7:35 PM._

_She would be walking through the door from work any minute now._

_**"LUUUUUUUCY, I'M HOOOOOOOME!" **__He finally heard her call out from the living room._

_**"I'm in the kitchen, babe!" **__He gently placed the dog on the ground. __**"Here goes nothing, Kev. Dad's about to make an honest woman outta Mom." **_

_The time had finally come. _

_He stood up straight, taking a deep breath, trying to calm his speeding heart. _

_There was no turning back now...but he didn't want to. He'd made up his mind a long time ago that she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with._

_Stepping into the kitchen, her eyes immediately went to the dozens of candles spread throughout the room. __**"Shit..." **__Her shoulders drooped. __**"Did I forget to pay the fucking electric bill again?" **_

_As much as he loved the woman and her many quirks, forgetfulness being one of them, he wasn't going to waste any time. _

_It was now or never._

_**"Danielle Elizabeth Reed..."**__ Holding the ring hidden deep in his pocket, he began the speech he'd been practicing in his head all day. __**"I knew you were it for me the day Punk introduced us-" **_

_Her eyes began to dance around the room, from the candles to the food laid out on the table and to the bouquet of red roses on the counter. __**"Rollins..." **__She said wearily. __**"...the fuck are you doing?" **__She tilted her head to the side, an easy look of confusion masking her face._

_**"-the moment you looked down at my shirt, told me A Day To Remember was a shit band and I had terrible taste in music, I told myself that I was going to marry this woman."**_

_**"Seth..."**__ She brought her hand up to her mouth, obviously trying to comprehend what was happening. __**"You're not..."**_

_He knelt on one knee and, with a flourish, pulled the ring out of his pocket. __**"Dani..." **__He smiled, his heart thundering loud and hard in his chest. __**"You've already made me the happiest dude on this planet but would you like to be Mrs. Seth Rollins anyway?" **_

_It felt like hours as he looked into her eyes, waiting for her answer. He held his breath at the unreadable emotions swirling in her dark eyes. _

_The ring suddenly felt heavy in his hand._

_He'd been so sure she would say yes that he never prepared himself for the off-chance that she rejected his proposal. _

_**"Yes..." **__She finally nodded, tears of happiness springing to her eyes. __**"I want nothing more in this entire fucking world.."**_

_Feeling complete relief and joy wash over him, he immediately stood and closed the distance between himself and the woman he loved with his complete and entire being._

_His hands were still shaking from his wracked nerves as he took her own trembling hand and gently slid the ring on her finger. _

_**"It's so beautiful." **__Her mouth fell open slightly, admiring the diamond on her hand. __**"You've really outdid yourself, Mr. Rollins." **_

_Seth felt an enormous sense of pride with her approval. He'd spent weeks picking out a ring that he thought his anti-jewelry girlfriend could appreciate. _

_Wrapping his arm around her slender waist, he pulled her into his body. __**"It's nice.." **__Softly running his thumb across her cheek, he wiped away her tears. __**"But there's nothing in the entire cosmos that's more beautiful to me than you...Mrs. Rollins." **__He held her close, hearts beating erratically but together and for one another, and placed a lingering kiss on his fiancé's lips._

_Mrs. Rollins..._

_He would never get tired of hearing that..._

* * *

**Sunday, March 30th 2014**

**Chicago, IL**

_**"When are you coming back?"**_

_"**I miss you, Punk. It's not the same without you."**_

_"**We want Punk."**_

_"**WWE needs CM Punk."**_

_"**Come back Punk."**_

They never stopped coming. Always the same. They missed him.

In his own way, he missed them too; the annoying fans flooding his Twitter notifications with their unrelenting pleas for his return. He missed what they represented...a time when he used to love wrestling; a time he once held a passion for it. He just wished they could understand how hard it was to go out there, put a smile on your face, and work through the pain when that passion no longer exists.

He didn't love wrestling anymore and he wasn't going back.

"The only place my ass is going is to bed..." He yawned .

The time on the iPad in his hand read _11:00 PM _and he was exhausted, though he didn't know from what. Apart from getting up early, dropping one girl off, and picking up the other...his day had been pretty uneventful. He'd taken Dani for breakfast at her favorite spot, The Bongo Room. Right after that, they'd come home and spent the rest of the afternoon laid up in his bed watching their favorite movies on Netflix and catching up on the past ten months of each other's life.

Dani was his sanctuary. She'd always been his quiet place to go when things were beginning to get to him. This fact had never been more true than during the time that had passed since he walked away from WWE. While everyone else was looking to him for an answer or an explanation, Dani didn't so much as acknowledge it. He'd called her the night he decided he'd had enough and she'd answered him with a simple, _'okay'. _That was the last and only time they'd ever talked about it. As they lay in the bed, laughing and giving their commentary on life, it was the most peace he'd felt in the two months since leaving. She didn't ask him for an explanation or a reason for his decision unlike everyone else, even AJ. All she wanted to know was what he thought about the Blackhawk's chances in the playoffs and why he didn't stock up the cabinets with Nutella if he knew she was coming.

A question he could easily answer. **They were going to dominate,**

A problem he could easily solve with a quick trip to Whole Foods.

She'd complained about being tired from her early flight so he wasn't surprised when he returned home to find her curled up in his bed asleep.

He'd been so excited, so eager, to spend time with his best friend but he didn't wake her. They had nine whole days to spend together before AJ returned. Plus, she was crabby enough when she wasn't deprived of sleep. So, he'd pulled the covers up over her shoulders, kissed her forehead, and spent the rest of the afternoon reading the stack of comics he now had time for, channel-surfing, and making the mistake of logging on to Twitter.

"I guess Dan's down for the count." He remarked to himself as he began to ascend the stairs to his bedroom. They hadn't shared a bed since she was in high school and would sneak over his house on the bad nights at her house but it looked like they would be going back to old ways tonight. He wasn't going to rouse her just to make her walk a couple of steps down the hall. "Hopefully, she doesn't sleep like a damn jackass anymore." He could already feel the woman's bony knees and elbows digging into his side. There was a reason he often woke up on the couch the mornings after those nights Dani would sneak over.

"I love you too, Seth." He stopped short in his bedroom doorway at the sound of her voice.

Peering into the dimly lit room he was able to make out Dani sitting up in the bed, cell phone to her ear.

"I miss you and I'll see you in two weeks."

Concealed by the shadows of the doorway, he felt like he was intruding but he couldn't turn away. He leaned against the door frame and took in the sight of his best friend trading sweet words with her fiancé.

_Fiancé._

It seemed like it was only yesterday that he was waiting on the hood of his car outside of Lockport Township High School for the bell to ring and release his best friend. She would always greet him with the same wide, brace-faced grin spread across her face. Only seventeen, she'd been all elbows and knees back then but still beautiful in her own strange way. With her dark sense of humor, mouthy nature, and her tendency to spend entire nights playing _Elder Scrolls _on his Xbox...she wasn't like most girls her age. Big chocolate-brown eyes and long, lush black hair falling over her shoulders like a waterfall, she was sadly unaware of her own perfection. Yet, in an unexplainable way, that only added to her beauty.

It was bittersweet, almost heartbreaking to him, that the beautiful and awkward teenager had matured into the just as beautiful woman sitting on his bed. Dark hair sitting in a messy pile on her head, black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, and wearing the pale blue Thor t-shirt she'd stolen from his dresser that afternoon...she was still the same _Dani. _

Except, she wasn't. She was a twenty-eight year old woman and she was getting married. She was all grown up.

"Yes, yes."

He felt a smile a smile teasing the corner of his mouth watching Dani roll her eyes at whatever Seth was saying.

"Ugh." She groaned. "I promise I will be nice to the little nitwit when she gets back."

He figured it was safe to assume that Seth was probably lecturing her about her attitude towards AJ.

"No, Seth, not if she starts it. If she says some-" She started to protest but was obviously cut off by Seth on the other end. "Are you serious?" Her nose wrinkled up in disgust at whatever Seth likely suggested.

He bit down on his lip, stifling a chuckle. It was amusing to see this side of Dani. The forthright and often audacious woman would only allow two people to ever chastise her about anything. One being him, the other being Seth. If it'd been anyone else, she would have already told them to screw off and stay the fuck out of her business.

Sitting there, nodding her head and taking in her fiancé's lecture, she could almost be mistaken for a meek or mild woman.

He never realized exactly how much she loved Seth but it was now clear in the unusual amount of patience she practiced with the man on the other end of the phone.

"Fine, Seth." She let out a quiet sigh. "What the fuck ever but I am only doing it for you and Philip." The woman's ordinarily brazen attitude was finally beginning to shine through. "I couldn't care less about that bitch or her insignificant feelings."

He couldn't even find it within himself to be angry at Dani for the way she talked about AJ. She was just being true to herself. Wasn't that something he'd taught her? How could he fault her for that? He couldn't. Hell, he loved her for it. She never put up a front or sugar-coated anything for anyone.

"Okay. I love you too. Bye."

"Sounds to me like _someone's _in trouble.." He teased the woman, announcing his presence in the room.

"Only because someone else's thin-skinned fiancé took it upon herself to _tattle _on me like a little bitch." Dani grumbled, sitting her phone back on his bedside table.

Phil sauntered across the room and crawled into the bed next to her. "I don't think she meant it like that, Dan." He slipped under the covers and relaxed his tired body into the soft cushioning of the mattress beneath him. "Seth probably ran into her, asked her how it went, and she told him the truth." An exhausted groan escaped his lips as his body completely softened and lost all its tension. There were no words to describe how it felt to lay in his own bed every night.

"You know what they say about snitches and talkers..." Dani looked down at him with a sly smile and a mischievous glint behind her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah." He yawned, folding his arms behind his head on the pillow. "….stitches and walkers..."

"Mhmm." Dani nodded as she flicked the lamp off, plunging the room into darkness, and eased herself down into the bed. "Exactly." She huddled up next to him.

Despite the smile she'd worn on her face and the playful ring in her voice, he knew she wasn't joking. He'd pulled her off a few of his exes in the past. He didn't want it to come down to that with AJ.

Phil rolled over on his side toward Dani and placed his arm under his pillow to support his head. Just like old times, she curled into his chest and slung her arm around his waist.

"Danielle.." He scrunched his face as a few stray strands of her hair tickled his nose. He adjusted his head on his pillow so that her mess of hair wasn't so close to his face. "You promised me and Seth that you would play nice with AJ..."

"Ugh.." She groaned into his chest. "I know but there is just something about her..."

In the darkness, his free hand found the woman's shoulder. "Dani, she just wants you to like her and you find a reason to hate every woman that I meet." He began to run his hand up and down the length of his friend's arm. Her skin was soft and warm beneath his touch. "I think you're just jealous, Dani."

"I'm not jealous, Philip!" He felt the sting of her pinching his side.

"Aaah, fine..fine." He rubbed the aching spot. "Maybe jealous isn't the right word. How about threatened by the presence of another woman in my life?"

"Well..." He could feel her shaking from the sad and heavy sigh that escaped her body. "You're all I've ever had, Phil. Aren't you worried that things between us might change once we're married off to other people?"

Staring into the darkness of the room, he thought back on that morning and the moment she showed him her ring. Of course he was happy for her; After all the shit she'd been through in life, she deserved her happy ending and he couldn't think of a better person for her than Seth. He'd witnessed the patience, kindness, and gentleness that Seth exuded with Dani. He was the yin to her yang. The light to her dark. They were perfect together.

But happiness wasn't the first emotion to register with him.

Staring at the large diamond winking back at him on her left hand, there was an element of sadness. He felt violated, though he couldn't understand why. He liked Seth and he'd introduced Dani to Seth with every intent for them to wind up together. Yet, he almost felt betrayed by the man...almost like he was stealing something precious from him.

Sitting in the car that morning and laying there with her, he couldn't rationalize the feeling. He could certainly understand Dani's hostility towards AJ, though, and her concern.

He wrapped his arm around her and held her snugly against him. "Don't you worry about that, Dan." He pressed his lips against her soft hair, the familiar scent of her cucumber and green tea shampoo filling his nose. "Nobody will ever come between us. I promise you will always be my best girl."

* * *

**So, AngelVanguard, ask and ye shall receive! You requested Dani/Seth moments and you got Dani/Seth moments! See people! Use your reviews for good! If you have a request and I can find a way to make it fit with the story and my timeline...I WILL ABIDE! :-) Things are really going to get good starting with the next chapter. Two less-than-friendly females will find themselves under the same roof again. OH BOY!**

**As always, FAVE/FOLLOW/REVIEW! If you don't...well...I will still write and put out the story but you guys can be nice, right? :)**


	5. Update

**Okay, guys! This isn't a bad author's note like the last story. lol. The story shall continue! I am just giving you guys an update since I am waaaaay behind. **

**Those of you that I am close with already know the situation. Those of you that follow me on Twitter might also have some idea.**

**Last Wednesday, I was involved in an unfortunate accident with a careless driver whilst crossing the street. Score: 1 for the Honda and 0 for my hip. lol. Ended up spending a few nights in the hospital and now have three beautiful pins holding my hip together.**

**I'm alive and kicking but, understandably, I was not in the mood to write at all last week. I just wanted you guys to know that I have not forsaken you. I am working on Chapter 5 right now and it is nearing completion. It will likely be up tomorrow or Thursday. **

**Thank you all for your patience and sticking around! I love you all and appreciate you! **

**Btw, someone convinced me to make a stupid Facebook...any of you can feel free to add me and entertain me during my (hopefully speedy) recovery.**

face book dot com (slash)h33lbr00ks78


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: First, I want to thank everyone for their patience and their well-wishes. I really appreciated it. The accident sucked but, it actually helped me with a bit of writers block and inspired me a bit. Though, our girl didn't make out half as bad as I did. Anyways, hope you enjoy the read!**

* * *

**Sunday, April 6th 2014**

**4:30 PM**

**Chicago, IL**

**University of Chicago Medical Center**

Leave it to Dani.

Only she could take a simple trip to United Center for the Blackhawks' game and turn it into an impromptu visit to the emergency room.

The morning started off like any regular morning; Dani couldn't cook to save her life, but she'd been kind enough to pour him a bowl of cereal before rousing him out of the bed. The quiet fifteen minute bus ride to Madison Ave was uneventful. Aside from Dani beating on the glass and hurling obscene insults at the referee and his "shit calls", as she called them, the game itself had been run-of-the-mill. Every indication was that the day would be another humdrum Sunday.

It wasn't until they left the arena and decided to take the 'El' to see the new Captain America movie downtown that things took a turn for the worst.

Dani, still heated about the ref, was still ranting and raving when they entered the subway station. He was too busy shaking his head at the woman. He loved going to hockey games with Dani. Unlike his hockey indifferent fiancé, she didn't keep her nose in her phone the entire game. Dani loved sports, especially football and hockey; She was always up on her feet, shouting with everyone else.

Sometimes, she just got TOO into it. Even though they'd won, this was one of those moments.

As they approached the steps descending towards the subway platform, she was too distracted by her anger for the incompetent referee to notice the discarded sheet of newspaper at the top of the steps. He saw it but, in all her irritation, she'd kept a steady pace ahead of him.

She was gone before he could so much as call out her name, nevertheless reach out and catch her before she slipped on the paper and tumbled down the steps.

By the time he reached the bottom of the steps, a few good Samaritans had helped her to her feet. Always a tough egg, she had a smile on her face and waved him off when he began to fuss over her. Still, he could tell from her face contorting in pain every time she placed weight on her left ankle and the blood trickling from the wound on her forehead, that she wasn't alright.

Their ordinary Sunday wasn't so ordinary and carefree after all.

He wouldn't get to sit in the back of a dark theater, throw popcorn, and laugh at the other movie goers with Dani; Instead, she was getting her head stitched and her broken ankle wrapped up by the ER doctors and he had to call Seth and tell him, just hours before he was set to wrestle on the grandest stage of them all that his fiancé was in the hospital.

Just as he expected, Seth wasn't taking it well.

"She's fine, Rollins. You know our girl; She's as graceful as a three-legged elephant." Phil stood in the middle of the empty hospital corridor, trying to calm the anxious man on the other end of the phone.

"What did the doctors say? Are they going to keep her? Can I talk to her?" Seth's raised voice, full of worry, rattled off the questions frantically. "Does she need me? I'll go to the airpo-"

"No, Seth. She's fine, I promise." Phil reassured his friend. "You can't just hop a flight to Illinois right before Wrestlemania." He knew he sounded like a massive hypocrite, having done the same thing only months before but Seth's career was still building. "You've worked hard for this, Rollins." He also knew Dani wouldn't want Seth to pass up such an important opportunity because of her.

The line was silent for a few moments as Seth had to choose...

…..his love for wrestling or his love for the woman he was set to marry.

Phil knew Seth wanted to do the right thing but either decision would hurt somebody; It was a classic Catch-22.

Phil understood Seth's struggle. It was a positioned he'd been put in many times during his long career.

The difference between them? Phil never thought twice.

It was always wrestling.

Finally, a heavy sigh came from Seth's end of the phone. "Tell her I love her and I will call to check on her as soon as I can."

"Don't you worry about her, Rollins. It's just a fractured ankle and a few stitches in that hard head of hers." He wanted to comfort Seth as much as he could. Wrestlemania was nerve-wracking enough without the worry of one's loved one in the hospital.

Plus, he was fully capable of caring for his best friend without Seth's help.

"I'll take care of her and you just go take care of business, Rollins."

* * *

**Sunday, April 6th 2014**

**8:15 PM**

**Chicago, IL**

"My Seth! That's my Seth..."

He'd no intention of watching the pay-per-view.

Even if AJ was on the night's card, he hadn't watched any WWE programming since his departure.

He was done with that company.

But she'd begged and pleaded with him all evening and, true to the nature of their relationship, what Dani wanted...Dani got.

Dani was laid back on the couch, her head and shoulders propped up by some cushions and her injured ankle propped up on a pillow in his lap.

"Yes, Danielle." Phil held an ice pack on her swollen ankle. "That's YOUR Seth." He said with a thinly veiled irritation.

Under the effects of the painkillers she'd been prescribed, she'd repeated the statement over and over from the moment her fiancé came through the crowd and ninja rolled over the barricade.

He was thankful The Shield's match versus The New Age Outlaws and Kane had been a relatively short match. After the day's events, his head was throbbing and her repetitious statement wasn't helping.

"I love my Seth..." She stated dreamily, closing her eyes and resting back on the cushions. "He loves me...we love each other..."

"I know you do, Dan..." He mumbled, paying more attention to the ice pack on her ankle than Seth and his "brothers" celebrating on the screen.

Dani's eyes suddenly shot open. "Ooooo, Phil...Phil..." She sprung forward, grabbing his shoulder. "Guess what! Guess what!" Her eyes were wide and lit up with excitement.

"What, Dan?"

"My Sethy asked me to marry him..." Her voice slurred a little, the side effect of the drugs. "Seth and Dani sitting in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." She sang to herself as she fell back on the cushions.

He shifted the ice pack lower on her foot. "I know he did, Dan." He responded, expelling a dejected sigh. Even a week after receiving the news, he couldn't understand why it wasn't sitting well with him. He'd agreed to help her plan her wedding and promised to walk her down the aisle but it bothered him. He'd entrusted Seth with his best friend's heart almost five years ago but...he couldn't explain it.

Maybe it was because AJ never shut up about the planning of their own wedding, but his stomach lurched every time Dani brought the subject up.

"We're going to get married and have lots of pretty dark-haired, olive-skinned babies..." He slurred happily, her voice rising and falling naturally. "Lots of pretty babies.." She sighed in contentment, eyes closed and smiling at the thought of her future with Seth.

"What happened to getting your ovaries removed?" An air of melancholy surrounded him.

Dani's eyes opened, meeting his own. They were slightly blank, dulled by the drugs in her system. "I was joking, silly." She smiled benignly. "I want to have a hundred of my Seth's babies, Philip, I love him so much."

"I know you've always been ambitious, Dan, but a "hundred" babies is an unattainable goal, sweetheart." A sad smirk played on his face, imagining his friend as a mother.

He could see Seth and Dani with a daughter; A sweet, dark-haired little girl with her mother's big, brown eyes and her father's smile. Luminous tan skin and full of fire like her mom, she would be Seth's whole world.

She wouldn't want her little girl to feel neglected and worthless like she'd been made to feel, Dani would be a terrific mother. Attentive. Firm but gentle.

Seth? He would be completely wrapped around the little girl's tiny finger. Anything the kid wanted, he knew Seth would make sure she got it. Any discipline would definitely be Dani's responsibility because Seth would be mush at their daughter's feet.

"Philip." The sound of her soft voice pulled him from his fantasy.

He noticed that her happy grin had disappeared into a dispirited smile as she gazed him calmly. "Don't be sad, bub. You look so sad."

Her statement was so sudden, so unexpected, that it completely caught him off guard. "I'm not sad, Dan." He sighed. "I'm just exhausted. It's been a long day."

"Is it because I'm marrying Seth, bub?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head, sad smile still on her face. "Is that why you look so sad?"

"I'm not sad, Danielle." He shook his head. "I'm just ti-"

"Philip Jack." She sat forward again, this time grabbing his hand. "You can lie to yourself. You can lie to AJ. You can lie to the world but you could never lie to me."

Her dark eyes stared into his own. They shone with knowing.

She was right.

"I'm not sad, Dani." A soft smile appeared on his face. "It's just hit me that you're all grown up, kiddo, and it's bittersweet."

"It's okay, bub." She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze then, mindful of her injured ankle, she removed her feet and instead rested her head in his lap. "Everything's going to be okay." She repeated quietly, closing her eyes. "Sometimes we take different paths, remember?"

"I remember, Dan." Their conversation on her grandmother's steps eleven years ago was still fresh in his mind. "We have to follow our dreams even if it means going separate ways." He stroked her hair gently, though he felt like it was more to comfort himself than her. "Seth is your dream.."

Her eyes suddenly shot open again. "Wait." She suddenly began to giggle over nothing at all. "Did I say that I wanted a hundred babies?"

"Yeah, Dan, you did." He couldn't help but chuckle at the disorienting effects the drugs had on the woman. "A hundred pretty babies."

Her face twisted in disgust. "Ewww, I hate kids." She grumbled. Her eyelids started to droop and he could see that she was becoming less and less conscious. "They're dirty and loud and whiny..." She mumbled as her face slackened into sleep. It wasn't long before she started to snore softly...and drool...as usual.

"Crazy kid." He whispered endearingly, using the bottom of his shirt to wipe the drool from her face.

She looked so gentle, so fragile, in sleep. It was hard to see her as the strong-willed woman that tested everyone's patience on a daily basis.

His eyes went to the bandage laid tightly on her forehead just above her eyebrow. Her tumble down the hard concrete steps could have ended so much worse. He was thankful that a busted ankle and a few stitches in her head were the extent of her injuries.

_'I should be over all the butterflies, but I'm into you..' _Dani's phone began to vibrate on the in-table to his right.

The woman in his lap didn't stir from her heavy, drug induced sleep.

_'Baby, even on our worst nights, I'm into you.."_ The phone continued to ring.

He knew who it was before he picked it up the phone but he still felt himself getting a bit irritated at the picture of the sleeping wrestler and their dog nuzzled on the couch displayed on the caller ID.

Without really thinking, he hit the reject button and took it even further by shutting the phone off all together.

"She'll call you in the morning, Rollins." He sat the phone back on the table and then turned his attention back to his sleeping friend.

Softly, he ran his thumb over the bandage on her forehead before placing a soft kiss on it's place.

"I've got her tonight."

* * *

**Wednesday, April 9th 2014**

**5:00 AM**

**Chicago, IL**

She woke up to the sound of snoring, loud and obnoxiously endearing against her ear. It took her a moment to orient herself- likely due to the still linger effects of the pain killers Phil had all but shoved down her throat that afternoon. The stillness of the house and the darkness of the room led her to believe it was either extremely late or extremely early. Immediately, the throbbing pain of her ankle began to register in her mind but she was too distracted by the snoring next to her. Her brain was still fuzzy from the drugs but she remembered falling asleep alone that afternoon.

The arms around her waist said otherwise.

She wasn't alone.

Someone was next to her. She could feel them breathing, chest heaving against her back. Face nuzzled in her hair, their breath was warm on her neck.

Typically, waking in the middle of the night to find someone in bed with you should throw one in a state of panic but Dani knew it could only be one person.

The only person in the house with her.

"What's wrong, jerk? Was the boogeyman under your bed?" Mindful of her sore ankle, she turned in his arms to face her best friend.

The face she was met with certainly wasn't the face she was expecting.

Butterflies fluttered upward in her stomach at the sight of his resting features. Even after four years together she wasn't sure she would ever get used to the sight of him. He took her breath away each time and she always felt like she should pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"Seth?" A soft smile crept upon Dani's face upon finding her peaceful, sleeping fiancé next to her. Eleven days had passed since the last time she'd seen his face but she hadn't realized how much she'd actually missed him. It was only then, watching his chest rise and fall and admiring the spill of blonde hair across his forehead, that she felt how much her heart ached for him.

"Seth." She softly repeated and touched lightly the stubbles of beard on his strong chin.

He stirred in his sleep, blinking his naturally dark eyes open to meet the gaze of his beloved. "Dani.." He gave a soft, weak smile. "How's my girl?" Seth rested his hand on the curve of her neck, stroking the skin below her cheek with his thumb.

"Ankle hurts like a motherfucker but I'm too happy to see you to even give a legitimate fuck." It literally felt like her insides were twisting, she was so elated with their unexpected reunion. She felt her face heat up and the sight of her blush made his smile widen.

Seth's arms tightened, pulling her closer to him, her head nestled on his shoulder. "I missed you too, Dani." He gently kissed the bandage on her forehead. "I know you're clumsy, Danielle, but damn- slipping on a piece of newspaper and tumbling down the steps? That's insane even for a klutz like you." He teased, grinning cheekily down at her.

"Shut it, Rollins." Dani playfully punched her fiancé in his hard stomach but she couldn't even pretend to be mad at him for poking fun at her accident-proneness. She was just deliriously happy to be in his arms again. "How did you even get in here? How long have you been here?" She dragged her head up into the crook of his neck, nuzzling her face there, his facial hair roughly tickling her skin. Breathing in a deep sigh, she took in the smell of him. She'd always loved the way he smelled. Even with the fresh scent of his body wash, there was something sweet but masculine about the way he smelled and she could never get enough of it.

It hurt her heart to think about how much she'd missed the smell, missed his smile, missed his voice, and the feel of his arms around her but being with him now did ease the pain in her chest.

"I caught a flight in with AJ after the Smackdown taping.." He said quietly, resting his chin against her hair. "I wanted to sprint to Chicago when Punk called and told me you were in the hospital..."

"...but Vince McMahon would have pissed all over his custom-tailored suit if the Architect of The Shield bailed out three hours before Wrestlemania." She giggled.. "I understand." Dani whispered, pressing a gentle kiss against his collarbone. He was there now and that was all that mattered to her.

"I hope Punk doesn't mind that I'm crashing the rest of your little trip." Again, he kissed her head lightly and began to softly trail his fingertips up and down the length of her arm. Even after all their time together, his touch still made her stomach flip and twist. "I took the rest of the week off to come take care of my girl."

Dani snuggled against her fiancé, holding him as tightly as possible. "I guess he will have to be okay with it, won't he?" A small smile played around her lips as she listened to his heart beating and the sound of his soft breathing. The only way she could describe the warm feeling within her was bliss, pure bliss. "I've waited too long for this, Mr. Rollins, and you aren't going any fucking where."

In the comfort of her fiancé's strong arms, she could feel herself drifting back towards sleep. "I love you, Rollins." She smiled lazily, eyes giving in and closing.

The tickling sensation of his beard grazing against her skin as he brushed his lips across her forehead only added to the growing warmth within her. "I love you too, Dani."

* * *

**So, not much but I hope you enjoyed it! The build-up has begun and things should start getting a bit more interesting now that our two couples are under the same roof. What's next?**

**As always, BE SURE TO FAV/FOLLOW/REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW. Just a few kind words make all the difference. **

**Love you all. Updates should come sooner now that I am starting to feel more like myself again.**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: I know. I suck. It's way late. My bad. Just dealing with life things, ya know? My main focus is my hip and getting better. My routine is pretty much just: Eat. Sleep. Rehab. Repeat.**

**Haha. A little lame wrestling humor. Anyway. Thanks for sticking around and enjoy.**

* * *

**Saturday, June 22nd 2002**

**Lockport, IL**

"I'm glad you could finally make it, Danielle. He's been asking for you all week."

Dani's legs felt like jelly as she followed Mrs. Rumpf down the hall. Heart pounding in her chest, her ribs felt like they were tightening with each breath. "I, uh, I kn-know..." She mumbled over her words. "I wanted to come sooner but I've been busy helping my grandmother at home and Coach Lewis started conditioning drills this week for the track team."

The young girl's sweaty palms held a tight grip on the strap of her messenger bag. Knuckles turning white as the bone strained against the skin, she was gripping the thing like a security blanket.

Her excuses had been just that..._excuses._

In all actuality, she'd been consciously avoiding this moment since receiving the news from Chez on Monday.

"He sleeps most of the day but, the few moments he's alert and responsive, you're all he talks about." Mrs. Rumpf sent a smile over shoulder as they continued down the hall. "Everyday, when Cassie and Chaleen come in from school, he asks them if you were there. He isn't very coherent but he keeps muttering about you not eating and your mother..."

Dani suddenly felt guilty, almost ashamed, about her delay in visiting.

Since her birthday, three weeks ago, he'd become her best friend and the closest thing she'd ever had to a brother. Their connection had been instantaneous; he "got" her like no one else ever had. He took care of her, completely opening up his arms and his home to her. He'd even paid her fees for the track team after her mother stole Dani's grandmother's wallet from her purse.

Even now, laid up in his own surrogate family's home with a skull fracture he sustained wrestling a tournament in Jersey the previous weekend, he was worried about her and her well-being. Meanwhile, she couldn't even be bothered to visit him in a timely manner because the thought of seeing him in that state filled her with anxiety.

Ever since her father had passed away six years ago, the seventeen year old girl avoided hospitals, the sick, and the injured.

He was only thirty-one; A strong, healthy, strapping young man, just like Phil, when he was ripped away from her. He'd fallen from some scaffolding at work and broken the tibia and fibula in his left leg. The last time she could ever remember being happy before she met Philip was the day her father died.

They were sitting in their living room, watching his beloved Chicago Bears playing on the screen. Kicked back in his favorite lounge chair with his injured leg propped up on an ottoman, he was letting her draw on his cast. A quiet and peaceful Sunday, just the two of them. It had always been just the two of them but Dani was okay with that. He'd been loving, supportive, and attentive...unlike her mother.

It all happened so suddenly.

One moment, they were laughing together about her depiction of Wonder Woman on his cast. She could still hear his big, hearty laughter and remember the wide grin on his face like it was yesterday.

The next moment, he was pale and clammy, clutching his chest and complaining that he couldn't breathe.

Her next memory of her father was watching the doctor's trying to resuscitate him from the viewing gallery over the operating room. She could still hear the long, steady beep from his heart monitor flat-lining in her head, too.

He was taken from her by a pulmonary embolism, a complication stemming from his injury.

They let her see his body one last time before they wheeled him away to the morgue. The large, robust man, with the broad shoulders and flashing white teeth, the man who always seemed bigger than life...was gone. Leaving only a body so shrunken and diminished, lying there on the operating table, he seemed but a pale shadow of his former self.

Nothing in the world could ever prepare a young girl for seeing her father that way. He'd been her whole world. She was scarred, to the say the least, by her father's death. She didn't like to think about it and she fought hard to suppress the memories of her father's lifeless body draped with a white sheet on the table.

Phil's injury and the subsequent phone calls from his friends and family begging her to come visit had only reignited those memories.

It had taken her an entire week, but she finally mustered the strength and the courage to face her anxiety head on and just visit him. He was her whole world now and she would do anything for him."

Chez told him that you were stopping by today so he's been fighting to stay awake."

So lost in the memories of her father and the feeling of drowning in her anxiety, Dani hadn't realized that Mrs. Rumpf had come to a stop, almost bumping into the dark-haired, older woman.

"He's been looking forward to it all morning..."

They were standing outside of a white door.

Even without the colorful wooden letters on the door spelling out the girl's name, Dani knew they were standing outside of Cassie's bedroom. Dani had visited Phil's surrogate family, the Rumpfs, with him before. Upon hearing the stories of Dani's mother and grandmother, Mrs. Rumpf and her husband had pretty much adopted her in just like Phil. She'd spent a few nights in their home when things at her own home were really bad and Phil was off wrestling in some distant city.

"That makes one of us..." The anxiety in her chest was building, making it difficult to breathe. She felt light-headed, almost dizzy, at the realization that she was actually there. He was just a few steps away on the other side of that door.

"Don't be scared, sweetheart." Mrs. Rumpf placed a gentle hand on Dani's shoulder. "He's still the same old Phil. Just a bit sleepier and a LOT grumpier." She smiled.

It was such a simple thing, that warm smile, that reassurance, but it eased the knots in Dani's guts.

She just nodded at the woman before turning and taking the doorknob in her hand. Stopping to take one last deep breath, she sucked the air into her lungs, holding it there a good ten seconds before expelling it from her body.

There was no going back...

* * *

**Thursday, April 10th 2014**

**Chicago, IL**

"Halloween, Dan? You really want a Halloween wedding?" Seth questioned his fiancé, brow arched in disbelief.

Punk and AJ had left that morning to spend the day together in the city. Meanwhile, Dani and Seth had elected to lounge around Punk's living room in their sweat pants and old t-shirts. With Dani on crutches, the thought of walking around the bustling city wasn't very appealing.

Plus, they didn't get enough time for moments like these. He was always on the road. He loved his job - the wrestling community, traveling to new places, meeting fans and most of all, the obvious, the money. He would throw it all away in a heartbeat if Dani asked him too, though. Since she didn't and wouldn't...he savored every moment he had with her. Moments when he wasn't that WWE Superstar; He was a just a man in his sweatpants with his arm around the shoulders of the woman he loved.

"Yep." Curled up next to him, Dani was scrolling away on her iPad. "Look, we could have it at the Stanley Hotel." She nudged her glasses up on her nose before tilting her head up to smile at him. "That's the hotel where they filmed 'The Shining'."

The sight of her smiling face never failed to make his heart skip a beat. Her smile was beautiful- soft, shy, and white as winter against her light brown skin.

"A Halloween wedding at the Stanley Hotel?" Witnessing the excitement shining in her dark eyes, he was unable to hold back the smile tugging at his face.

The woman enjoyed the macabre. Ghouls, ghosts, monsters, and anything genuinely creepy excited her. Halloween was the one time of year she could let those interests run wild without shame.

Of course she would find a way to incorporate it into their special day.

Even if it wasn't the most original of ideas.

"I don't know, Reed." Seth said skeptically. "No offense, but the idea seems a little played out. A wedding at a haunted hotel on Halloween?" He commented, taking the iPad from her hands. "I bet they're already all booked up for that day." Seth squinted, struggling to read the screen without the glasses he'd left in the guest room.

_Discounted guest rooms..._

_Professional banquet staff..._

_Complete set-up and tear-down..._

_Breathtaking photography venues..._

Reading over all that was included in the wedding packages, the place seemed like a decent idea. If they could actually book it...

He was suddenly overcome by disbelief as the reality of the situation hit him like a tidal wave; They were planning their wedding. He was going to be a married man.

His wonderment and stupor was short-lived - interrupted by Dani snatching the iPad from his hand.

"Well, I don't see you contributing any ideas, Mr. Rollins." The temperamental woman grumbled defensively.

"Hey, I'm leaving the wedding planning to you, Reed." Seth, taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger, stared into her big, brown doe eyes. "I would be content to marry you in an alley on Earth Day, babe."

There was a quiet moment of connection in the gaze with two pairs of brown eyes but she had no way of ever knowing how truthfully he spoke. His life was transformed the first time their eyes met. She was his everything. His air. His food. His water. He WOULD marry her anywhere. He'd be completely fine with a quick run to the Justice Of The Peace. All he wanted was to be her husband and to have her as his wife.

"Whatever makes you happy is good enough for me, Dani."

"That's good.." Dani spoke hesitantly. "...because I may have already booked the venue.

"Are you serious?" He questioned her with an arched brow.

She just shrugged. "Like you said, I'm probably not the only woman with the idea..."

He stared at her in disbelief, not upset but shocked that things were already moving along. They'd barely been engaged for two weeks and already had a venue. "Dani, when did you do this? It's only been two weeks..."

"The day I got to Chicago." She explained. "It was Phil's idea. I loved it and I didn't know when you and I would have the chance to talk about it...I didn't want to lose it."

Hearing that she'd picked THEIR wedding venue with another man irritated him slightly, but he knew he shouldn't have expected any less. She always went to Punk first for everything. He loved her so he dealt with it. He just hoped it changed when they were both married to other people.

"So, how much did that cost?" He asked, pushing the subject of Punk and his close relationship with Dani to the back of his mind. Planning their wedding should be a happy experience, he wouldn't let anything spoil it.

"Seth..." Dani smiled up at him innocently, biting her bottom lip. "….it's our special day..."

"Danielle Reed..." He said her name sternly. "Do not deflect.."

"Not much.." She averted his gaze and took a piece of her hair to spin around her finger. "Just a two thousand dollar non-refundable deposit.."

Seth's breath caught in his throat, completely caught off guard by the amount of money she'd spent without consulting him. "Non-non..non-refundable, Dani?" He stuttered over the words. "What if I had said no? That's a lot of money."

"Oh please." She rolled her eyes. "When have you ever told me 'no', Rollins?" She spoke with a nonchalance.

_His _Dani. So sure of herself. So sure of him and his unconditional love and devotion. Anyone witnessing their conversation might think she was being conceited but, not Seth, he knew she was just telling the truth.

He would give her anything she asked for.

"Alright, then." He conceded - just as she probably knew he would. "That's out of the way and we have eight months to plan the rest."

Sitting the iPad on his lap, Dani smoothed her fingers over his chest and nuzzled her face in his neck, sighing with content. "You spoil me, Rollins."

Seth closed his eyes, enjoying the soft burst of sensations when her breath grazed his skin. "Of course, Reed." He softly replied. "You're my girl."

Dani did not reply. They both remained silent, reveling in each other's closeness.

"Disgusting." Their intimate moment was disrupted by the sound of Phil's voice. "No bodily fluids on the couch, please."

Seth opened his eyes just in time see Phil plop down on the couch opposite of them and throw his feet up on the coffee table.

_Perfect _timing..

Ever since Seth and AJ has arrived, Phil had found a way to interrupt every close moment Seth attempted to share with Dani. He didn't know if it was deliberate or just bad timing on Phil's part but he was always there, popping in at every inopportune moment. To check on Dani's ankle, to see if she was hungry, to see if she wanted to watch the game...his excuses varied.

"Oh stop, Philip." AJ followed behind him, taking a seat next to her fiancé on the couch. "I think it's so cute that they are so in love and can't keep their hands off one another." The Diva smiled warmly.

"Yeah, whatever." Punk seemed genuinely disinterested in the couple sitting across from him. "Where's my remote?" He fdidn't even cast a glance in the couple's direction before he began to feel around on the couch for the device, lifting throw pillows and cushions until he found it.

Another reason that Seth had talked Dani into staying at the loft while Punk and AJ went into the city.

Punk had been acting so strange.

He was a well-known grump but, usually, he was cool to Seth when he was around.

Not this time.

This time, Punk seemed unusually perturbed by Seth's presence, pretty much ignoring him the entire time. Seth figured he was just the unlucky recipient of one of Punk's infamous mood swings and it would soon pass.

In the meantime, he figured it was just best to stay out of his way.

"I hope we're that in love in five years just like the two of you." AJ was staring at her fiancé lovingly, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses with all the hope she held for her relationship. It was clear that she loved the man as much as Seth loved Dani.

Punk, meanwhile, continued to look unimpressed by the situation as he channel-surfed.

"Are you serious, April?" Dani finally spoke from beside him. "You HOPE you still love him in five years? Isn't that something you should be sure of before you decide to get married?" She berated the woman fully.

The smile on AJ's slowly crept away. "No, Danielle, that's not what I was saying..."

"Oh shut up, April." Dani snorted. "Fuck off with your lame explanation, okay? You're both dumb as hell for rushing into this."

Even the women's tense exchange didn't divert Punk's attention from the television.

These were actually the first full sentences the women had spoke to another since being under the same roof. They'd shared a few snide remarks and comments in passing but it had never escalated any further.

Things were tense enough with Punk walking around in a "mood", Seth didn't want this encounter to escalate any further.

"How's that ankle feeling, Dani?" Seth changed the subject. "Isn't it about time for your meds?"

Still clearly irritated by AJ, Dani pushed off from Seth, sitting up straight on the couch and crossing her arms. "Leave it, Rollins." She bit. "My ankle is fine. You and Phil are making much too big a deal of it. You're driving me crazy. I feel smothered." She lashed out.

He didn't take it personal. He knew he wasn't the one she was angry with and he'd learned how to ride our her moods a long time ago.

"She's right." AJ added. "She'll be fine. I don't think a broken ankle has ever killed anyone..."

Seth heard Dani's breathing stop as soon as the words left AJ's mouth.

Even Punk stopped what he was doing, sitting down the remote. "April..."

AJ didn't know what she had just done but, both Punk and Seth immediately turned their attention to Dani.

They knew.

Even without her pained gaze and trembling lip, they both knew where her mind was at.

It was with _him_ - the man she'd lost so many years ago.

"That shows what you know..." Dani muttered the words softly before grabbing her crutches and exiting the room as quickly as her injured leg allowed.

"What?" AJ looked from Punk to Seth with confusion in her eyes. "What's the deal?"

Ignoring AJ and her question, Seth stood to go after Dani. Punk could deal with his fiancé and her questions. He could explain it to her. Seth just wanted to go comfort Dani.

"Sit down, Rollins." Punk was already ahead of him.

"My best friend. My house. I'll deal with this."

* * *

AJ had only been home for two days and the two women had been surprisingly civil for the most part...aside from the occasional snide remark from Dani. That was to be expected though - she'd never been too good about masking her emotions or keeping her opinions to herself.

Regardless, Phil was still grateful to his friend for making trying to coexist peacefully with his soon-to-be wife. Perhaps it was because she was too miserable over her ankle to bother with AJ.

Her good behavior could also be attributed to the surprise arrival of her own fiancé, too. How could she meddle with AJ when she was making out with Seth when she wasn't sleeping off her painkillers?

The irritation had pooled in the bottom of stomach since waking up the morning before to find Seth in the kitchen with Dani. It was almost like finding an intruder in his home. That was the only way he could explain the violation he felt.

This was supposed to be _his_ time with Dani.

AJ. Seth. None of that mattered at the moment.

All that mattered was the scene laid out in front of him - Dani curled up in the middle of his bed, dark hair splayed out on his pillow. Her back was turned to him in the doorway but he knew she was crying. Her shoulders shaking from the silent tears racking her body told him all he needed to know.

There weren't many things that elicited an emotional response from Dani, but her father was one of them. She always cried when she thought about the man taken from her so soon and too early. This was why she rushed off after AJ's thoughtless remark. Dani would never cry in front AJ. She was far too proud. Seth and Phil, they both knew her in such an intimate way. If it had been the two of them, she would be bawling in the living room.

Then again, if it had just been the two of them, such a statement would have never been made.

"Have you been thinking about him a lot lately?" He announced his presence in the room.

Keeping her back to him, Dani nodded softly. "You know..." She sniffled. "...I can go months without thinking about him..." Her voice was hoarse and cracking. "..but then it hits me out of nowhere..." Her voice cracked again, almost like a whimper, trying to control the tears. "..I'm right back there in that stupid operating room and I'm standing over his lifeless body again..." Her body began to shake again, silent tears turning into audible sobbing.

The sound of her heartbroken cry hit him in the middle of the chest, filling him with his own pain. Hearing her cry always tightened the vise around his heart so tight that he would swear he was having a heart attack.

He wasn't sure what to do; He never was when anyone cried around him but, when Dani's hand reached back for him, he knew he had to share in this moment of heartache and pain with her.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Danielle." He whispered, crawling into the bed next to her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he gently rolled her over, so he could see her face, and wiped the moisture from her tear-stained cheeks.

She uncurled herself slightly so she could lay her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her trembling body, steadying her as she took a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry, Dan, AJ doesn't know..." He murmured into her hair before placing a kiss against the top of her head.

Her tears soaked the front of his white t-shirt as she clung to him, continuing to sob.

It tortured him to hear her sound so broken, it almost brought tears to his own eyes. Dani was such a strong woman, it was so rare for him to see her completely break down. He never knew what to do when she came undone except to hold her until the pain was gone, however long it took. He would do anything to make her world right, even if it meant letting her soak his shirt with snot and tears for twenty minutes.

After a few moments, Dani's sobbing subsided and her breathing became regular. "It's not her fault..." She said, her voice hoarse from crying. "As much as I would love to blame her, I can't." She sighed dejectedly. "Dad's been on my mind ever since Seth proposed."

"You wish he could be there..."

He knew it was a dumb question. Wasn't it every little girl's dream to have her father walk her down the aisle and hand her off to the man of her dreams? Especially when the girl was as close to her father and Dani had been to her own.

Dani would never get that.

Again, she nodded. "Uh-hmm." Her body began to shake again from her suppressed sobs.

"Look at me, Dan."

She did as he instructed, turning her tears-soaked face up to look at him. As her red, puffy eyes met his, he realized he'd never seen anything so beautiful. "Listen, brat..." He wiped the tears and snot from her face. With his hands. He loved her that much. "Your dad wouldn't want his death to be a dark cloud on what is supposed to be the happiest day of your life." He smiled at her and swept his hand across her cheek, tucking a strand of her long hair away from her wet face. "I know that I'm not your dad, kiddo, but I'll be there. I'm going to walk you down that aisle, I'm going to place your hands in Seth's, and you guys are going to live happily ever after." It pained him to say the words aloud, but he held a grip on his own emotions, for her sake.

"Dad would have liked you, Phil." She smiled in between soft sniffles and slowly streaming tears. "You've always taken care of me. I don't know where I would be without you, bub."

Placing a soft hand against her cheek, he kissed her forehead. "I always will, Dan."

Leaning into his touch, she offered a weak smile.

It was in this moment, as he held the gaze of her deep brown eyes, he realized how empty his life had been before those brown eyes. How, on the days he couldn't see those eyes, he didn't even want to open his.

He felt a sudden rush of emotion then as he subconsciously moved closer to her, not really hoping or wanting. Their whole relationship for the past twelve years had been unpredictable, they just did what felt right to them, cuddles and _I love you_s and pet names and jokes all blending in to become something neither of them had expected nor especially wanted at the beginning.

He brought his face closer to hers and his nose grazed against her own. He could feel her warm breath spread on his moistened lips, leaving a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. A feeling he hadn't felt for Dani since that rainy night all those years ago. He angled his head slightly, brushing her lips with his once, twice, and then kissed her with such gentleness, slowly tasting her like the first kiss they had shared, remembering how those full lips had been his first to claim, how she stole his breath away in every way...then and now...

To his surprise, she returned his kiss tentatively, a soft moan escaping her lips , curling her fingers into his shirt.

His mind was racing with so many different thoughts at once. It went briefly to AJ and to Seth waiting for them downstairs and the consequences that would likely follow. It didn't linger there because he also thought about how he hadn't felt such electricity or passion since that night with Dani.

He'd been young and stupid then. Too afraid to love beyond what he could lose. He couldn't lose Dani so he'd pacified her and himself with his terrible excuse about wrestling.

She returned his kiss much longer than he expected but not as long as he would have liked.

She broke their kiss and he rested his forehead against her own. Neither of them said anything as they each searched the depth of the other eyes, but he could tell from the emotions running riot on her face that she also realized that nothing would ever be the same.

He wasn't sure how she felt but he didn't want things to be the same. He loved AJ, that much was true, but he was never scared of losing her. The way he was scared of losing Dani because of his pride all those years ago and the way he scared of losing her now that she was engaged to another man.

Suddenly, a small whimper sounded from the doorway, breaking Dani and Phil from their trance and interrupting their tender moment.

His stomach dropped at the sight of AJ in the doorway, tears pooling in her eyes and her hand over her mouth. Slowly, the whimpering sounds turned to words, shaky, broken words. "Seth told me about your dad, Dani..." AJ's voice strained under the pressure of trying to fight the tears. "...I just wanted to come say that I was sorry for making you cry..."

* * *

**Aaaah, the plot thickens. I almost feel bad for AJ. Note that I said ALMOST. **

**Review. Review. Review. Review. Can't say it enough. It's not too hard to leave a few words, is it? I mean, I type out almost 5,000 a week for you guys. Just saying. ;)**

**(Side bar: Anyone who's read my Punk/Courtney stories, I know I left their last story on a pretty crappy note but I've been inspired. I've had a few ideas. Now, it wouldn't be my priority but, as a side project, would any of you be interested if I decided to write and fill in what happened to them between Thanksgiving and the end? I don't want to take it on if nobody wants to read it, but, if you guys want it...I will.)**

**Much love, guys.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hi, guys! Sorry that I haven't updated this for a while but I am currently alternating between this story and All That Remains. I spent the last few weeks on the other one but I ready for this one with some new, fresh ideas. Hope you can all forgive me. :)**

* * *

**Saturday, October 26 2002**

**Lockport, IL**

"Whore..." Dani rolled her eyes as she let her straw rotate in her drink, stirring the ice cubes that seemed to take up half the cup.

Two weeks had passed since the two of them slept together and nothing had really changed between them. At least...not for him. He still wanted to be friends and he still treated her like nothing more than a little sister.

The morning after, still pissed about the stunt her mother pulled, he'd gone to her grandmother's house, personally loaded all of Dani's belongings into his trunk, and told her grandmother and her mother that the girl would NOT be back until they got their shit together.

It wasn't like either of them could fight it, the girl would be eighteen in eight months. Frankly, neither of them would do anything about it if they could. It was probably music to their ears to hear that they would no longer be burdened with the responsibility of caring for the teenager. They were both now free to run the streets and cater to the respective addictions - not that they didn't do that anyway.

Dani decided to stay at his house when he went for her things. According to him, her mother was already high and barely coherent while her grandmother looked to be working on her second bottle of the day. Neither even noticed Dani was gone or seemed to be bothered at all when he broke the news.

Even though she was now living with him, things had settled back into the norm.

They were still inseparable.

He would still pick her up from school on the days he wasn't wrestling in some distant town's gymnasium. They still hit up the movies every weekend he was home and she went with him on the weekends he wasn't.

And, just like before, she still had to watch him with the "ring rats" who threw themselves on him at every promotion and in every parking lot after every event.

Even now, celebrating his 24th birthday with him and a group of his friends at his house, she couldn't deny the jealousy pulsing through her body. Seated, alone in the corner of the crowded living room, she paid no mind to the dozens of people standing around her conversing over 'Bouncing Souls' blaring through the radio. Everyone was in good spirits, laughing and some sipping drinks, but not Dani. Eyes narrowed, she was focused on the couple standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

The shorts fit her waist perfectly, hugging her small curves gently. The white muscle tee hung off her body slightly, her belly button ring peeking out every time the shirt moved. A bow was clipped neatly in her long, bright red hair, holding back her short bangs.

No. Just like Dani couldn't deny the overwhelming bitterness and envy growing inside of her, she couldn't deny the good looks of the woman her best friend now had pressed against the door frame, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

"Well, what is Punk's stray doing all by her lonesome in the corner?" Dani was momentarily distracted from the burning in her chest by the sound of the familiar voice.

Glancing up briefly, she acknowledged the grinning man standing over her. "Hey, Colt..." She grumbled before setting her sights back on Phil and his floosy.

The girl reached up, softly touched Phil's face, and Dani felt her stomach turn.

"Why are you looking so glum, kid?" Phil's friend and fellow wrestler, Colt Cabana, flopped down on the couch next to Dani. "Maybe you didn't notice, but, It's a party." His elbow gently nudged her side.

Dani shrugged, folding her arms across her chest. "Guess I'm not in a party mood..."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be here, little one?" Colt teased - he was always teasing her about the fact that she was much younger than Phil and the rest of his friends. "Hey-" He turned his attention to the red solo cup in her hand. "-this better be apple juice in this cup." He snatched it from her hand before she could react and took a quick gulp.

Dani didn't care. She liked Colt well enough. He was a fun, friendly guy and she enjoyed being around him most of the time, he always had a way with cheering people up. Except, Dani didn't want to be cheered up, not that she could be.

She wanted her best friend, the man who utterly and completely occupied her entire heart and every facet of her life, to take his hands off the skank with her completely unoriginal (but fitting on a girl like her) butterfly tramp stamp.

"Shit, Danielle." Colt gagged and choked down the drink - a stiff mixture of Rum and Vodka. "Does Punk know you have this? He would kick your ass, kid."

Dani finally turned her head to Colt, whose face was still twisted in disgust from the strong drink. "Well, he's obviously too engrossed with Slutterella to notice..." Dani snapped, consumed by her envy and bitterness. "...I don't think _my _ass is the one he is worried about tonight." She grabbed her drink back from Colt and brought the cup to her lips, fighting back the tears stinging her eyes. The burn of the alcohol anchored her and she could almost block the image of his hands roaming the woman's body from her mind completely. Almost...

Colt's eyes followed Dani's gaze to the couple on the other side of the room and his jaw dropped as the realization hit him.

"Wait.." A slow smile crept upon his face. "_That's _why you're moping in the corner, Dani?" He nodded towards Phil and the young woman. "You're totally jealous."

"I'm not jealous..." She mumbled foolishly but the flush in her cheeks told the truth.

Watching Phil lean in and whisper something in the redhead ear, Dani took another sip of her drink. The woman tossed her head back and laughed loudly. Dani took another drink, suppressing the urge to march across the room and grab the whore by the same red hair her best friend was now twirling around his fingers.

"Awww, Danielle has a crush..." It looked like the friend Phil told everything was not privy to the knowledge that this was more than a crush. Dani was in love with Phil, something she was trying to show him when she gave him such a precious part of her. Although he didn't seem to see it that way...

She'd finally had enough.

Enough of watching Phil's eyes smoldering with intensity, not for her, but for a woman who would never care for him as much as Dani. Enough of the woman's hands exploring her friend's body. Enough of Colt's taunting. Enough of being treated like a child.

Enough of not being _enough_ for _him. _

All of her emotions - anger, jealously, bitterness - boiling inside of her were threatening to spill over at any moment. No matter how angry he made her, she wouldn't cause a scene and ruin his birthday. She owed him that after all he'd done for her.

"Fuck off, Colt." She stood from the couch and tossed back the rest of the strong drink before tossing the cup in his lap. "If your friend can pull his head out of princess' ass long enough to notice that I'm gone, tell him I'm spending the night at my gran's." She spat bitterly before she began to weave her way through the crowd of people and right past Phil...who paid her absolutely no mind at all.

Maybe it was all the suppressed emotions or perhaps the full effects of her first alcoholic beverage were finally hitting her, but it felt like her head was spinning by the time she made it on the porch. Unable to deal with her dizziness combined with the onslaught of emotions, she fell to her knees on the porch, tears finally spilling over.

"I'm just as good as that girl..." She spoke the words into the cool night air as comfort to herself only.

"Come on, kid." Colt had followed her onto the porch.

"I told you to fuck off." Dani sniffled, rubbing her moist eyes with the sleeve of her sweater.

Ignoring the young girl's verbal abuse, Colt took her by the elbow and helped her to her feet. "Look, kid, Punk's told me all about the shit your mom and grandma have done. He would kill me if I let you go over there."

"No, he wouldn't." She shook her head. "He doesn't give a damn about me. All he cares about is wrestling and the stupid whores that follow you guys around."

"That's not true, Dani, and you know it." He corrected her.. "That man adores you, worships the ground you walk on, and would do anything you ever asked of him. Now, you're obviously a bit tipsy; I could tell by the way you stumbled across the living room. Punk would kill me if I let you walk out of here like that, so, I'm going to give you a ride to my place. You can crash on the couch.."

Dani didn't protest. She knew she was acting like a child. Just because Phil didn't return her feelings didn't mean that he didn't care about her at all. The way he felt was evident in his willingness to take her in and the concern he showed her on a daily basis- from picking her up from school, helping her with homework, making sure she had something to eat, and calling her every night he was on the road.

She knew he loved her...like a sister. She also knew he _would _flip out if she spent the night at her old home, especially if she walked there under the influence of alcohol. Hell, the alcohol alone was enough to send him off on a tirade. She just wanted to get away. She couldn't watch him with that woman anymore. She just wanted to lay down, her head was throbbing and her stomach was in knots, but she couldn't rest in the same house while he was laid up with someone else.

"Fine." She nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

**Sunday, October 27th 2002**

**Lockport, IL**

All but running down the hallway of Colt's apartment complex, he felt the anxiety churning in his gut. He couldn't stop his mind from the incessant question of whether or not she was okay. But, the primary thing on his mind, his only focus...was finding her.

He'd been up since six am looking for her.

The party was fun for a bit. He always enjoyed getting the time to hang out with friends. He quickly grew tired of it, though. It was about one in the morning when he decided he was sick of all the loud, drunk people in his living room. _Who brings booze to a Straight Edge man's birthday party anyway? _The question repeated in his head as he made sure everyone had a safe way home and threw them out of his house.

Including the hot redhead - a friend of Chez's he'd never met before last night. He couldn't remember what her name was; Rachel or something that started with an "R".

She was a nice girl but she wasn't the girl he wanted. The girl he wouldn't allow himself to have.

She wasn't his Dani.

She had a beautiful smile but it wasn't the goofy grin he anticipated greeting him in the kitchen every morning. Her skin was soft and flawless. Her eyes, a brilliant blue that sparkled in the light. But, when he caressed that flawless skin, all he thought about was Dani's warm skin against his own only two weeks earlier. There wasn't a set of eyes, any shade of blue, that could replace the dark brown ones that shined with excitement every time he walked through the door.

He did regret sleeping with Dani - only because it ruined every other girl for him. There wasn't another girl in the world who could match her beauty, her unique personality, or take her place in his heart.

So, he'd thrown the girl and everyone else out with plans to spend the rest of the night with Dani, just the two of them. When the house had cleared and he didn't see her, he'd assumed she'd just gone to bed. Not wishing to disturb her, he'd gone to bed without checking her room.

He got up at six am, like he did every morning, to go to the gym. Just like every morning, before he left, he peeked into her room to check on her. Unlike every morning, his friend's bed was made and not slept in. It took him forty minutes to drag the teenager out of bed for school every morning and it was the weekend. There was no way she was up that early.

Things only got more strange when he entered the kitchen, thinking it was possible she may have decided to get an early start, only to find her dead phone on the counter. She never left her phone but she wasn't in the house.

Having called everyone at the party the night before and every place she could have gone, with no success, he was in a near state of panic by the time he made it to Colt's door.

"GET UP ASSHOLE!" He didn't care that it was eight in the morning and Colt's neighbors could be sleeping. He would beat the door down if he had to. "I NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP."

It felt like hours he fidgeted outside of Colt's door - tapping his foot, chewing his nails, biting his knuckle, and running a jerky hand through his hair while every terrible scenario raced through his head.

What if she left with some drunk asshole who took advantage of her and stranded her somewhere without her phone? What if she was laying, beaten, in the middle of a hospital? He didn't dare think of the worst...

Finally, he heard the locks turning.

"What the fuck, dude?" A groggy Colt answered the door in his boxers, eyes squinted and hair disheveled. "It's like eight in the morning..." He yawned.

"It's Dani." Phil wasted no time shoving his way past Colt into the apartment. "She wasn't in her bed this morning. She's not at her grandmothers. Nobody from the party remembers seeing her last night." He was pacing Colt's living room like a mad man. "She left her phone at home and I am going out of my fucking mind, man. You have to help me find her."

"Calm down. Calm down." Colt closed the door and casually strolled over to his friend. "She's fine, I promise."

"You don't know that, Colt!" He snapped. He was completely overwhelmed with worry and concern. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was her hurt and crying somewhere. "What if she left with some pervert and they left her in a ditch or an alley somewhere!" He shouted at his friend. "Now, get some fucking clothes and lets go!"

Cautiously, Colt approached his manic friend. "Dude, just chill." He grabbed Phil's shoulders, bringing his pacing to an end. "Listen to me..." His voice was calm and relaxed, eyes holding an essence of reassurance. "I promise you that she is fine and completely safe."

"SHE IS NOT FINE, GODDAMMIT!" He jerked away from him. Colt's calm and indifference was almost infuriating. It tested his already fragile nerves. "She will not be fine until I find her and take her home." He stated. "Now, are you going to help me or are you going to stand there in your underwear all fucking day?" He was beginning to regret coming to Colt's. His best friend seemed like the logical person to ask for help but the time spent convincing Colt could have been better spent looking for Dani by himself.

"Ugh..." A sound of disgust came from behind them. "I hope not."

Turning to the relieving sound of her voice, all the tension in his body dissipated at the sight of the grumpy face he'd become accustomed to every morning. "Danielle! I been worried out of my fucking brain all morning!" Rushing over, he captured her in a tight bear hug, catching the, still half-asleep, girl off guard. Every stressful thought and awful scenario melted away with the feel of her in his arms. "Don't do that to me again, brat." He kissed the top of her head and was met with a strange but familiar scent, a scent his father had carried into their house every day when he was a kid. Pulling away from the girl in a mixture of shock and disgust, he couldn't believe it, the seventeen year old girl reeked of liquor. "What the fuck, Dan?" He covered his nose. "You smell like a fucking brewery!"

"She had a few to drink last night, man." Colt stepped over. "That's why she's here..."

He was completely dumbfounded, at a complete loss for words.

Nothing about the scenario was making sense to him. Why would Dani be drinking? Why would she spend the night with Colt, of all people? Looking between the two of them, the anger began to stir in his stomach as he put the pieces together.

Colt in his boxers and Dani, with her black hair in complete "bed-head" mode, was dressed in a large shirt and sweat pants he recognized as Colt's.

"You motherfucker!" He reacted without thinking, betrayal and anger blocked any sort of rational thought. He punched his friend square in his jaw, catching him completely by surprise and rocking him back on his heels. "You're fucking sick!" He yelled at Colt, who was holding his jaw and staring at Phil, completely stunned. "She's seventeen! Instead of letting me know that my underage friend is drunk, you bring her home and have your way with her!"

Hands tightly fisted and chest heaving, he was fuming. No, he was more than fuming, he was completely enraged. If he would have ever trusted anyone with Dani's well-being, it would have been this man. It disgusted him...how wrong he was.

But that didn't beat the betrayal. Whether Colt knew it or not and even though he wouldn't admit it to her...she was _his. _He wanted to vomit at the thought of any other man's hands on her soft body.

"No, you jerk!" Dani finally spoke, shoving him in the chest. "He didn't so much as lay a finger on me."

"I was just trying to do you a favor, man." Colt, still holding his face, added. "She didn't feel well and she was talking about walking her drunk ass to her grandmother's. I figured she would be safer if I brought her here and let her crash on the couch. I swear I didn't touch her."

He was being honest, and that honesty was very clear in the pleading tone of his voice and his eyes begging his friend to calm down. Plus, he knew Colt better than that. Colt would never take advantage of anyone, certainly not someone who meant as much to Phil as Dani. The anger and worry just wouldn't allow him to think clearly.

"What would it matter if he did?" He had no chance to apologize to Colt before Dani's small hands were shoving him in his chest again. "I am almost eighteen and you are not the _only _one allowed to hook up with random people at parties." Her dark eyes were glaring at him with such open hostility that it caught Phil completely by surprise.

"Well, you're not eighteen yet, Danielle Elizabeth." He quickly returned. "Plus, you live under MY roof so it's MY rules. Which means, you don't drink. You don't sneak out in the middle of the night. You certainly do NOT leave parties with random older guys."

He didn't understand where her sudden attitude stemmed from but he didn't care for it. He'd just spent an entire morning, sick with worry, searching every inch of Chicago for her and this was how she thanked him? It was moments like this that reminded him why he called her: "Brat".

She scoffed and rolled her beautiful dark eyes. "It's not like I left with some stranger, Philip." She derided his concern. "It was just Colt - your best friend and someone I trust. I am not a child and I can make my own dec-"

"If you're not a fucking child, _Elizabeth, _QUIT FUCKING ACTING LIKE ONE!" He yelled, at the limits of his patience with the insolent teenager. "If you're such and adult then make some goddamn adult decisions!" He let all the morning's stress and frustration out on the girl in front of him. "Getting drunk, Danielle? What the fuck were you thinking? You're only seventeen, Danielle. I am responsible for you, kid."

"Uhm, I am just going to slip into my room and give you two some privacy..." Colt quickly made his exit from tense encounter but neither of them were paying him any attention any longer.

She didn't respond. She just stood there with her arms crossed, glaring at him. He could see the tears building, just burning to escape her eyes, and he regretted yelling at her. He regretted the tone and the words he used. He needed her to know that he wasn't angry with her, but scared - scared for her because he loved her. As well, because he loved her, he'd also been scared for himself; Scared that someone else was with the girl he loved.

He hated to see her cry. Every time she did, he wished he could take the pain and put it on himself, just to make her feel better. But, how was he supposed to do that when he was the reason for those tears,

_Why did love have to be so complicated? _

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Brat." He softened his tone. "I was just worried about you, Dan. I don't know what I would do with myself if anything ever happened to you."

"Well, if you're so worried about me, maybe _you_ should act like it." The stubborn girl threw his own words back at him. "Maybe, if you didn't have your tongue down that skank's throat all night, you would have noticed something was wrong and I wouldn't have left."

The words she grumbled finally brought clarity to the situation. Why she was drinking. Why she left. Why she was being hateful to him.

For the same reason he'd just punched one of his very best friends, a man closer to him than his own brother. She'd let envy get the best of her.

It broke his heart and twisted his gut to know he'd caused her such pain. Of course he knew Dani shared his feelings. How could he be so stupid not to think about that when he was flirting with Chez's friend?

Probably because he didn't want to think about her, at least, not in _this_ way. He missed a time when things seemed simpler between. It was so much easier when she was just another "little sister" like the rest of his female friends. It was all his fault. If only he'd been stronger, if only he'd said no. If only they'd never slept together and opened themselves up to all these complicated feelings.

"Come here, kid." He sighed deeply, pulling her into another hug. "I'm sorry, Dani. I'm sorry for ignoring you last night and I am sorry for yelling at you."

She reciprocated his embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "I'm sorry for worrying you and making you punch your friend." She mumbled into his chest.

He just rested his head against her hair, relishing their closeness.

She was the most infuriating girl he'd ever met - but that was one of the reasons he loved the stubborn and complicated girl so much.

If only she were a few years older...maybe he would have found her before he found wrestling.

...but she wasn't and he didn't. Not matter how badly he wanted to let himself love her, he couldn't.

He'd already traded everything he loved for that _one _thing. He'd made every sacrifice for wrestling.

Dani meant so much more to him than anyone before...he couldn't lose her.

For that reason, things had to stay the way they were.

They could never be together. He could never have her...

….and he would have to find a way to live with that.

* * *

**So, yes. This chapter was a complete flashback. I just felt like this part of Dani/Punk's history needed to be brought up before we addressed the aftermath of their present day kiss. Which may or may not be up by this weekend. Who knows? Maybe if you guys leave me lots of good reviews, I'll be inspired to get it up quickly. *wink, wink* *hint, hint* :)**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Friday, June 13th 2014**

**Chicago, IL**

His call went straight to voicemail.

Not entirely out of the ordinary; she hadn't answered any of his calls or text messages for three months.

If iPhones had buttons, his would certainly be worn thin from the countless times he'd dialed her number since she left, taking his heart with her.

He dropped the phone in his lap and flopped back on the couch. "Damn it." He ran a hand over his face, groaning in frustration. "Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn." He stared up at the ceiling, the blades of the fan merging into one and their hum strangely comforted him.

The house was quiet - so quiet he could hear the ticking of the clock on the mantle and the soft chugging sounds of the fridge in the kitchen. He'd become so accustomed to loneliness, he could quite distinctively hear it. The silent sound of loneliness. It was a sorrowful sound, one that followed him everywhere he went and came out in everything he did. Even when he slept. which wasn't very often and never very well, the loneliness' sounds rang and followed him.

Without her, he felt empty, like his very soul was taken from him.

She was gone...just _gone._

It wasn't AJ, his now ex-fiancé, that he mourned. It was the one who'd crept stealthily in his heart twelve years ago and taken him prisoner. It was the one who knew him and understood him like no other person before.

It did hurt him, slightly, that AJ was gone. Especially on _this_ day. He should be getting ready for his wedding right now, not moping on the couch in the middle of his empty apartment. He couldn't mourn her, though. Not when every cell in his body screamed for Dani.

He took a deep gulp of air, resting his hands on his knees in utter agony. His mind drifted back to the memories he had of her, all the time he wasted when he should have told her. He should have told her twelve years ago that he _loved _her, but he held it inside, the burning knowledge that he loved her more than himself or life itself.

He didn't blame her for being angry with him.

He'd made a complete mess of things.

_"Aren't you going to go after her?' _He could still remember the shock Dani wore on her face. At the time, he didn't know if it was from their kiss or that AJ had seen it all.

After apologizing to Dani for her tasteless comment, AJ had backed out of the room, stifled sobs shaking her body. He felt a small rush of guilt for hurting AJ but he didn't want to go after her. The only place he wanted to be, the only place he had EVER wanted to be, was next to Dani. _"No..."_ He felt confident in his decision that day. _"She's not the one I want, Brat."_

_"What the fuck are you talking about, Philip?" _After she'd returned his kiss in full, he couldn't understand why she was looking at him like that - her face fell into something he could only describe as complete and utter confusion. _"She's your fiancé." _The last word sparked something within her. _"Oh fuck, Seth." _Her face paled as the realization spread across her face. _"I need to get downstairs before that bitch spews out her version of events." _She went to move from the bed.

Then it was his turn to be confused. _"Dani, wait..."_ He grabbed her arm. _"You and I need to talk about this..."_

_"What is there to talk about?" _ She looked back at him with just a touch of coolness in her tone. _"We got caught up in our emotions, Phil." _It felt like his heart plummeted far past the pit in his stomach when she drew away from him.

_"So, you're saying that kiss meant nothing to you?" _

She stared back at him, looking almost conflicted, before giving a weak shake of her head. _"I don't understand where all of this is coming from..." _

Biting his lip, he dropped his head. How could he make her understand something he couldn't explain. He'd done a wonderful job of suppressing his feelings towards Dani for twelve years. He'd convinced himself a long time ago that he was doing the right thing for both of them. The words to explain why it no longer felt like the right decision were beyond him. All he knew in that moment was what he knew the first time he saw her in the back of 'AF Books' all those years ago...

_"It's always been you, Dani, and I've always known it." _He quietly admitted the long-held truth to her and himself. _"For the sake of keeping you, I've fought the feelings for years. I couldn't love you because I thought my career was more important than love and I wouldn't lose you to wrestling like everyone and everything else I've given up." _He looked up to gauge her reaction and saw the tears welling in her deep brown eyes.

_"I can't fight it anymore, Brat, and I don't want to-" _He paused, reaching out to caress her cheek, wiping her tears with his palm. _"-you have always meant more to me than wrestling and I realize that now. Now, that I am done with that part of my life, there's nothing standing in the way of me loving you, Danielle."_

_"You're wrong, Philip." _She moved his hand from her face, taking a moment to hold it in her own. Studying the tattoo-covered hand in her own, a soft and sad smile came to her lips. _"There is something standing in the way of you loving me..." _She shoved his hand away. "..._the man I love, the one for me, is downstairs and I am going to marry him.."_

The buzzing of his phone in his lap drew him out of the void she left when she left him in the guest room three months ago. AJ left that day without telling Seth. He was none-the-wiser when Dani told him she wanted to go home early.

She hadn't answered any texts or calls since that day but he felt a small glimmer of hope as he lifted the phone. It quickly disappeared when he saw the name on the caller ID.

"Are you calling to tell me, again, how much you hate me?" He answered the phone, trying, for the sake of her feelings, to hide the disappointment in his voice.

He hadn't talked to her since she picked up her belongings but he hadn't been sitting around, blowing up her phone or waiting for her to return his calls.

He did regret that AJ got hurt but his mind wasn't with her at all.

"I don't hate you, Philip." Her voice was steady but thick with tears.

He could tell that she'd been crying.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did, April." He swallowed hard on the guilt bubbling inside of him. She didn't deserve such treatment, she didn't deserve to be hurt the way he hurt her.

"Do you know what day it is?" He could tell she aimed for a light tone, trying to hide the pain in her voice.

"Yes, AJ." He gave a heavy, sad sigh. "I know what today was_ supposed _to be."

He could hear her pitiful sniffles on the other end. "I was just looking at my dress and thinking about how much I still love you and-"

"Stop, April." He cut her off. "Don't do this to yourself, sweetheart." He didn't want to hear what she had to say, didn't want to hear her beg. Not so much for her feelings, but his own patience. All he could think about was Dani and he really didn't want to deal with AJ and her feelings when he was so caught up in his own. "Nothing has changed for me in the last three months, AJ. I haven't changed my mind."

"I'm just saying...this is not how I envisioned my wedding day at all."

He was beginning to wonder if she just called him because she wanted to make him feel worse.

She was certainly doing a good job so far.

"April, you deserve someone that loves you wholly and completely, sweetheart..." He paused. He didn't want to hurt her anymore than he already had, but he'd lied to himself, Dani, and every one else for twelve years. He wouldn't lie anymore. "It's Dani, April. She's owned my heart since the moment I met her." In all actuality, he could feel the heart Dani possessed completely, constricting as the memories flooded his mind of the first time he met her. He never imagined that feisty, young girl cussing him up and down would be the girl he fell in love with. "I'm just sorry I didn't realize that before I asked you to marry me, AJ."

That was the truth, the awful truth. It was surreal to him - the woman he'd told himself, merely four months ago, was the woman he wanted to spend his life with was, now, nothing more than collateral damage.

"She doesn't return your feelings, does she?" AJ asked. "That is why she's still going to marry Seth..."

"She's confused. She doesn't know what she wants but she'll come around." He wasn't sure if he was speaking to convince himself or AJ. "I made her wait twelve years; I can wait for her to come around." He had to believe that. He had to believe that he didn't ruin his life, break AJ's heart, and lose his best friend for no gain.

"I love you, Philip." Her voice cracked. She was starting to cry again. "I love you here and I love you now. Doesn't that mean anything?"

He didn't want to listen to her any longer. He didn't want to hear her cry or hear her beg. His mind was made up. "What's the point in loving someone, April, if they don't love you back?" He didn't mean for the words to sound so harsh, but they did. He just wanted her to stop.

"That's funny-" She said bitterly. "-I could ask you the same thing."

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, yeah. I know. I didn't get it up before the weekend. I guess 4 reviews just wasn't the motivation I needed? *Shrugs* Nah, honestly, I appreciate every review that I do get. I was just a lazy bitch last weekend. Forgive me. Hope you enjoyed.**

**Remember: reviews = _love. _Next update should be up soon. See ya next time!**


	10. Chapter 9

**I have been meaning to do this for some time but I am forgetful little heifer at times. So, with no further ado, I would like to just tell you all to go check out _ShootingSydalPress_ and and some pretty awesome Paige/Miz fics. Wonderful author! You're missing out if you do not!**

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**Monday, June 16th 2014**

**Davenport, IA**

_"Hey, Brat, it's me...again. I guess you're still pissed at me and I guess I understand. Actually, no, I don't. Could you not delete this voicemail like I'm sure you deleted the countless others I've left. It's been three months, Dan, this is fucking stupid. I miss you and, well, I love you. I love you, Danielle Reed. Please, call me back so we can figure this out."_

After deleting the message, just like all the rest he left her everyday, Dani sighed heavily and set the phone down on the table. She stared down at it for a moment, contemplating what to do.

He sounded miserable, completely dejected, with every word he said.

Part of her wanted to call him back and tell him that she was miserable too - tell him that she missed him just as much as he missed her. Another part of her, the stubborn part of her, was way past caring how pitiful he sounded.

Seven years.

Seven long, agonizing years she waited for him.

A painful eternity she had to watch him date through more than his fair share of women with a smile on her face. She had to pretend to be happy for him. Pretend that she was fine. Pretend that her heart didn't break every time he touched another woman. Pretend that she didn't cry herself to sleep, every night, wishing she was the one next to him at night.

Her entire life, every day, was a lie. She wore the mask of a girl who wasn't living in a constant state of misery.

For _seven years._

Then she met Seth.

He fixed her broken and lost heart. His love saved her from the constant darkness, bringing new light and purpose to her life. She never stopped loving Phil but, with Seth, she was able to forget about that hopeless dream. She grew happy and content in her life with Seth and her friendship with Phil.

Then fate reared it's ugly head...

Their kiss had awakened all those old feelings...leaving her to feel very confused.

She wanted Phil. Her body craved him. He haunted her dreams.

The temptation was always there...

On those lonely nights when she had to crawl into her bed, too much bed for one person, and ached for the familiar warmth next to her. When Seth was across the country and she was sitting at home, bored, with the dog - she couldn't count on two hands how many times she thought about picking up the phone and dialing those ten numbers.

Wasn't that all she'd ever wanted as young girl? For him to come to her without question.

She thought about him all the time. His memory and his face crept into her mind all the time - even the most inappropriate times to think about another man.

Those nights when Seth was there to hold her, she would find herself longing for the arms of another. Even in their most intimate of moments, it was Phil she thought about, it was _his _warm breath she yearned to feel against her skin.

She was exactly where she where she'd been five years ago; a state of constant misery.

Torn between her present reality and her past fantasy.

Torn between the two men that meant the most to her.

Torn between the man who loved her and the man she desired.

How could she be with either of them without hurting the other?

As much as she did love Seth, it was loyalty, alone, that held her there.

"Why couldn't he just leave fucking well-enough alone." She groaned in defeat, laying her head on the cool surface of the kitchen table.

She was so excited to marry Seth. She was content to spend the rest of her life with him. There was nothing she wanted more in the world.

Until Phil had to go and remind her that there was _one _thing she DID want above all else. Being with Seth made her forget about those feelings, hiding them deep inside her heart and locking them away, but Phil's kiss brought them all to the surface again.

Her heart had always belonged to him entirely. She loved him with all the tiny pieces he'd broken it into. Yes, Seth came along and mended that heart. He was just a Band-Aid - holding all those pieces together.

Phil was the first and the only one to ever make that heart whole.

The buzz of her phone broke the silence of the empty kitchen and and startled Dani out of her trance.

Dani, knowing exactly who it was, closed her eyes and heaved a weary sigh as she sat up in her chair. She stared at the phone, buzzing and buzzing as it moved slightly along the table before going abruptly silent.

"Stubborn asshole." She grumbled as she grabbed the phone.

She frowned at the sight of his name flashing on the view screen. This time it was a text message.

Her thumb hovered over the screen as she thought about what to do - would she delete it like all the others? Or, perhaps, maybe it would be better if she just talked to him and made it clear to him that she wasn't leaving Seth and she wanted him to leave her alone.

_'Danielle Elizabeth, you can pick up the phone and talk to me or I can come knock on your door until you talk to me. Your pick.'_

Her heart skipped a beat as she read his message. She'd never considered that he would just show up at the home she shared with her fiancé but, now that she thought about it, she was surprised he hadn't shown up sooner. It wasn't a threat, she knew him better than that. When Phil said something, he meant it.

"I guess I can't put this off any longer..." She admitted to herself.

_'I'll be in Chicago this weekend for work, Meet me Saturday. Noon. The Starbucks on Michigan Ave. Don't be late, jerk."_

Her thumbs typed out the message and sent it out before her brain had an opportunity to really process what she was doing. It was true she did have to be in Chicago for work that weekend; She had to interview the Cubs' first baseman, Anthony Rizzo for work. Though, she could have just as easily called Phil to tell him to leave her alone.

The truth was, no matter how hard she tried to deny it, she wanted to see him.

As much as she hated him for disrupting her happy life and making things so complicated, she still loved him and she hated herself for it.

* * *

**Okay, okay. Not much. I just needed to get Punk/Dani's post-kiss fallout out of the way. Now, it is and we know where everyone's head is at. I can proceed with the drama and angst that makes my cold heart happy. :) Hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Lost a follower or two after the last chapter. Hm. Must have been AJPunk shippers! LOL. Haha. I mean, I place a fairly prominent disclaimer at the top of my profile: Married or not, I do NOT ship that. Do not look to me for your AJPunk shipping fix. LOL. Anyways...**

**Remember: _reviews _****_ love._**

**You all left some wonderful reviews on the last chapter! Keep it up and I might just continue to update the story this quickly. ;) Until next time...**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: So, sorry for the tortoise paced updates. As you may or may not know, I am now working on THREE stories. Basically, I am just updating and working on whichever story compels me at that moment. So, um, yeah. Anyways...**

**...enjoy.**

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**Saturday, June 21st 2014**

**Chicago, IL**

The crowded coffee shop was abuzz with activity. Nearly all the tables and booths were taken. Most of the occupants were college students, some elderly people casually reading their newspapers, and the pretentious hipsters on their Macbooks.

Phil anticipating as much on a Saturday afternoon, was seated in a back booth, Cubs hat pulled low over his eyes and the hood to his red jacket pulled up over it. He didn't want to draw any attention to himself. So far, his simple guise seemed to be working.

He'd been sitting in the back of the packed Starbucks for twenty minutes and not one person, so far, had approached him to sign anything or asked for a picture.

His nerves were already on edge, wondering exactly what he wanted to say to Dani. He'd been calling her constantly for three months, begging her to speak to him. Yet, never once, did he ever stop to think of what he would say. Even more so, he was wondering what she had to say to him after all this time.

Drumming his fingers on the tabletop, he stared intently at the door way, anxiously waiting for her.

He briefly glanced at the clock on the wall.

_12:15_

His heart was pounding, his palms were sweating, and a familiar feeling of anticipation and anxiety was settling uncomfortably in his stomach.

Dani, ever the control-freak and a perfectionist, was _never_ late. He was beginning to worry that she wasn't going to show

_She had to come. _He couldn't be wrong. He didn't want to be wrong.

His eyes went to his hands, now fidgeting on the table. He focused on his bare ring finger. He should be on his honeymoon right now - not sitting in the back of Starbucks, hoping the woman he threw it all away for would show up.

His shoulders slumped when he looked back to the clock.

Had ten minutes really passed already?

She wasn't coming.

He would probably never see her again and that thought alone was enough to leave him feeling completely dejected. A life without her was something he couldn't wrap his mind fully around.

Feeling that dull ache in his chest, he knew he needed get out of there. Before someone recognized him and made the mistake of approaching him in his pissed, heartbroken state. He needed to go.

Trying to ignore the disappointment welling inside him, he moved to slide out of the booth until the ring of the bell hanging over the door caught his attention.

His heart hammered wildly against his chest in his, otherwise still, body at the sight of her sweeping through the door. The world seemed to slow down as he watched her stop, brown eyes scanning the crowd of people, for him, no doubt.

He wanted to wave or call out to her but he couldn't; He was frozen in his seat at the vision of loveliness in front of him. He took in her whole appearance, stunned by her beauty, and then started noticing the details of her ensemble.

She was in a pair of simple, black yoga pants that hugged all the right curves of her body and a red (her favorite color) sports bra that left her toned abdomen exposed. Her raven hair was up in a messy ponytail, a few errant strands clinging to her forehead from the damp stickiness of the sweat glistening on her body.

The, also red, Beats by Dre headphones around her neck and her hard breathing told him exactly why she was late. Running was to her, what wrestling had once been to him. A star athlete, herself, in high school, running was what paid her way through college. It was unheard of, a full-ride 'Track and Field' scholarship, but Dani had been that good, that fast, and a few schools had scouted many of her track meets in school.

She was still that good and she still loved running.

It was no surprise to him that she'd probably lost track of time while running the streets of their hometown.

Their eyes finally met across the room and a bright smile lit up her face.

That smile was something he had missed the most, the smile that could brighten the darkest of his days. The smile that could offer him comfort when nothing else could.

The smile that now gave him hope..

Hope that, perhaps, she wasn't upset with him anymore. Hope that, since she wasn't avoiding him any longer, she'd changed her mind. Hope that she'd come there to tell him she wanted to be with him.

Hope that quickly diminished when she raised her hand, giving him a small wave.

The glimmering diamond on her left hand tortured him. The monstrosity shone like a harsh beacon, spotlighting a pain that felt similar to a punch in the gut.

She wouldn't have to speak.

The ring told him everything he knew she needed to say.

The large set glowed on her hand, its promise blinding.

She still intended to marry Seth.

She was only there to put the final nail in his coffin - in their coffin.

* * *

He was in his usual grumpy form when she took her seat across from him in the booth.

"First, let me just say that it's bullshit that you make me drive 20 minutes to meet you In this crowded ass coffee shop, Brat." He scowled.

Seeing him again pulled the all the feelings she'd been grappling with to the surface, so hard and so fast that she wasn't sure she would be able to fight them again.

"Well, my hotel is just up the street so it's convenient for me and, frankly, we're on _my _time." She struggled to quash the butterflies that flitted in her stomach. It was hard not break out in a smile at the sight of him sulking across from her. His moody demeanor had always been the quality most endearing to her. She loved it, how earnest he could be, even with her.

It was refreshing to have someone who challenged her and called her on her bullshit, unlike Seth, who gave her anything and everything she wanted with no protest.

"That's bullshit too, kid." He spat. "You're spending money on a fucking hotel when you have a home here." He grumbled, folding his arms and slumping down in the booth.

Hiding his hurt feelings behind a protective show of anger and irritation, she knew him too well.

It had nothing to do with money at all - his feelings were hurt because she didn't stay with him like she usually did when she was in town.

"Well.." She sighed, sitting back in the booth. "...given the circumstances, it just didn't seem appropriate, Bub."

She saw the rise and fall of his shoulders, his release of breath as he contemplated her words. It was obvious it bothered him, the platonic moniker. He wanted to be more than just her "brother". She noticed it when she came in - how he seemed to carry so much physical weight on his shoulders. It made her ache to know she was responsible for that great deal of sorrow.

Composing himself, he sat up in the booth and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "Well, I'm happy to see you, Dan." He gave her an almost sad smile before sliding his hands towards her own, moving slowly as if not to startle her. "It's ridiculous how much..."

She stilled. The gentle, unexpected pressure of Phil's hand, the feel of his fingers wrapping around hers and Dani found the emotions she tied so tightly away trying to get out.

Tender.

That was how it felt as his hand lifted hers up, stopping just in front of his lips.

She closed her eyes and let the sensation of his careful touch, the feel of his breath on her skin, rush to every corner of her body.

She thought back to the first time he touched her, _really _touched her, on that rainy night all those years ago. She remembered, so vividly, the electric thrill of adrenaline as skin met skin. Their bodies blending into one as their hips met and their lips touched. She remembered how he set her blood on fire.

Then, behind her closed eyelids, all she saw was_ his_ face - that goofy grin and those big, brown eyes. The face of her fiancé, the man who loved her unconditionally, rushed her mind and she remembered why she was there.

Her eyes snapped open and she pulled her hand away from him. "It's not like you saw me that much before.." Her heart was pounding painfully in her ears, and when she reached up to brush her hair out of her face, her hands were shaking so badly she almost poked herself in the eye.

"Well, things aren't the way they were before, Danielle." He stared at her intensely, looking at her with darkened green eyes so heavy it made her head spin.

"So, how is April?" She cleared her throat, needing to change the subject.

A heavy sigh fell from his lips as he removed his baseball cap, the Blackhawks one she'd bought for him last Christmas, and tossed it to the side. "I talked to her last weekend." She tried not to stare as he raked his fingers through the disheveled dark hair atop his head. "She's doing as well as you would expect a woman in her position to be doing, I guess." He shrugged.

_How could he do that?_

She didn't understand - How could he just drop AJ, just shrug her off as if it was no big deal.

How could he just forget about the woman he once proclaimed was the love of his life? How could he just walk away and be so sure of his decision while Dani couldn't fathom the idea of walking away from Seth? Even though she knew - her heart knew that it belonged to Phil...entirely.

It always had.

"So, I guess I didn't miss a wedding last week, after all?"

"The twenty missed calls and text messages a day didn't give it away?" He asked, words mingling with wry laughter and a wounded smile teasing the corner of his mouth.

She just stared at him, wishing the smile threatening his face would just spread out into that wide grin she'd come to love so many years ago. She could feel her own smile playing on her face at the thought of it. She'd never realized or allowed herself to think about how much she missed that bright smile over the past three months.

"So, how is Seth?" His voice drew her attention from his lips back up to his piercing green eyes, shimmering in the afternoon sun dancing through the window next to their booth.

She averted her gaze down to her hands twisting and turning in her lap. She couldn't look in his eyes anymore. She didn't want to. Every time she looked into those green eyes, she just fell in love with him again and completely forgot why she was there.

"Phil.." She took a deep breath. "Let's stop pretending that we're just catching up in a coffee shop and get to the real reason we're here."

"Alright." He nodded. "Why are you here, Dan?"

"Because you won't stop calling me, asshole."

Those roguish green eyes twinkled as he smirked. "Dani, if you wanted me to stop calling you, you could have simply picked up the phone or sent a text message. Admit it-" He leaned across the table, looking deeply into her eyes. "You wanted to see me, Dani." He whispered, lips inches away from her own, so close she could feel his breath tickling her face. "You missed me, too."

"Of course I missed you..." Without really thinking about it, Dani brought her hand up and softly caressed his face, smoothing out the stubble that was growing over his cheek. "You're my best friend..." She said gently in return, never breaking his gaze.

As the words left her mouth, she realized two things.

One, they weren't true. He was so much _more _than her best friend and that brought her to the second realization.

She wasn't in love with Seth.

Yes, it was easier to be with him, but her heart was still with Phil and it always would be.

"You don't want me to leave you alone, Danielle, do you? In fact, it's the opposite, isn't it?" He challenged her, face so close that they were sharing the same breath. "You love me and you want me just as much as I do you."

"I do." She said gently, but surely. She knew she couldn't lie to him or herself any longer. "I want you." She let her feeling shine raw and naked in her eyes for him to see and in that next moment, he kissed her, capturing her lips softly and passionately with his own.

She didn't protest his movement, moving with him, she gladly returned his kiss. Feeling his hands on the back of her head, she closed her eyes as he pressed her deeper into their kiss. Feeling his lips, it wasn't anything like kissing Seth. His lips were warm and perfect against her own. They way they moved together, so in sync, it was like they had been designed solely for one another.

The kiss was soft and gentle. In fact, he kissed her with the same tenderness of their first kiss. She felt the air leaving her lungs and butterflies moving down into her stomach. It was perfect. He was perfect.

Their mouths parted and their tongues danced together. The kiss was intense and had the same magic feeling that she had felt twelve years ago. She still loved him with all her heart and soul, and she was sure that he felt the same. The way they instantly connected told her so.

It was like they had never parted.

Opening her eyes as their lips parted for air she was met by his own gorgeous orbs staring back at her. They stared into one another's eyes for a few quiet moments, his serious and hers searching.

She looked up into his eyes and, seeing nothing but the passion he held for her burning in his emerald irises, she wanted to reach out, tangle her hands into his mess of hair, pull his face back to hers, and kiss him with every ounce of love she'd ever felt for him.

There were no thoughts of her fiancé waiting at home as she exerted every ounce of will -power she had not to crawl over the table and _take _him right there.

Knowing that would be inappropriate in the middle of the crowded establishment, she brought her hand up and traced his lower lip with her thumb.

"I have a few hours before I have to be at Wrigley for this interview..." She bit her lip, so sure yet so uncertain of what she knew was coming next. "Do you want to come back to the hotel with me?"

* * *

***Looks around* Oh boy...now I see why she rushed out so quickly after their last kiss. This poor woman just can't contain herself when it comes to this man...apparently. *shrugs***

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**As always...** reviews=_love._


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